TRANSPORT

Euston Station

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the proposed cost of the remodelling of Euston station was at the time of publication of plans for High Speed 2 between London and Birmingham; and what the current estimate is of the cost of that project.

Simon Burns: The proposed base costs of plans for High Speed 2 between London and Birmingham of the remodelling of Euston station were £1,170 million (at second quarter 2011 prices) at the time of publication in January 2012.
	As is normal with large infrastructure projects like HS2 we are continuing to develop and refine our designs as we learn more about issues at specific sites on the route and gain more certainty about the precise challenges we need to overcome.
	There are of course challenges on budgets, but equally there are significant opportunities for the efficient delivery of HS2. HS2 Ltd is working closely with DFT, IUK and the wider industry to drive efficiencies into the delivery of HS2 including our approach to Euston station.
	Prior to the submission of the Hybrid Bill later this year we will publish an updated estimate of the costs for Phase 1 of HS2.

High Speed 2 Railway Line

Eric Ollerenshaw: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate he has of the number of jobs created (a) directly and (b) indirectly in the North West by the construction of High Speed 2.

Simon Burns: HS2 Ltd's appraisal, which does not address the potential regional economic impacts of HS2, suggests that on the western leg to Manchester the proposed terminus station at Manchester Piccadilly is predicted to support an estimated 29,700 jobs, and the proposed interchange station at Manchester airport would support an estimated 300 jobs. Further details can be found in the Sustainability Summary document published on 28 January and placed in the Libraries of both Houses.
	Phase Two of the scheme overall would be expected to support the creation of some 60,000 jobs in the cities of the Midlands and the North. Up to 10,000 jobs are anticipated in construction; 1,400 in operation and maintenance jobs; and almost 50,000 around the proposed stations.

Plants

Andrew Bridgen: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much his Department spent on indoor and outdoor plants and trees in each year from 2005 to 2010.

Norman Baker: The requested information is provided in the following table. I have also provided information for the most recent years for the sake of completeness.
	
		
			 £ 
			  2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 
			 Central Department         
			 Headquarters(1) 5,253 6,488 8,140 12,370 13,449 9,295 423 423 
			 Air Accidents Investigation Branch (2)— 1,214 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Marine Accident Investigation Branch(3) 0 0 0 0 0 8 0 0 
			 Rail Accident Investigation Branch(4) 2,330 2,467 2,467 2,150 1,396 1,883 1,228 880 
			 Government Car Service(5) 1,225 1,470 1,225 1,855 0 0 0 0 
			          
			 Executive Agency         
			 Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency(6) 2,535 2,015 2,071 5,361 2,421 0 0 0 
			 Driving Standards Agency(7) 3,346 3,346 2,933 7,500 8,420 6,110 1,925 1,764 
			 Highways Agency(8) 61,451 84,216 74,300 57,862 46,645 10,741.24 0 0 
			 Maritime and Coastguard Agency(9) 0 0 0 23 0 10 0 0 
			 Vehicle Certification Agency 0 0 0 280 0 0 0 0 
		
	
	
		
			 Vehicle and Operator Services Agency(10) — — — — — — — — 
			 (1) Expenditure on plants is set to be approximately £450 per annum with effect from March 2011. Data for 2005 to 2008 based on yearly costs as HQ facilities management contract runs from July to July. Costs previously covered cover site visits by an outside sub-contractor, as well as maintenance and replacement (where necessary) of plants located in the lobbies and public areas of Great Minster House, London. Expenditure in 2010-11 also includes termination cost of maintenance agreement (2) During 2005-06 AAIB spent £8,392.85 on landscaping. Costs included external plants and labour, with labour being the larger element. However, these costs cannot be separated. (3 )Relates to purchase of one plant for ‘Families Room’ (where MAIB speak to bereaved relatives etc). (4) Relates to hire and maintenance and not purchase at two sites, provided under two contracts, one of which has expired and the other will not be renewed upon expiry. (5) Relates to maintenance (6) The expenditure on pot plants relates to the interior landscaping of the Richard Ley Development Centre (RLDC) and some of the local vehicle registration offices. The RLDC hosts external events, which are income generating. As a consequence, interior landscaping (plants and flowers) are necessary due to the need to ensure the facility demonstrates a professional outlook and provides an image that is comparative with similar venues. The expenditure incurred for the RLDC relates to the rental of the displays. There are also interior plant displays in some of the public areas of the local vehicle registration offices. The expenditure on these is primarily for the maintenance of the displays. (7 )Data from 2008-09 are based on the contracted costs for the provision and maintenance of pot-plants. All figures are net of VAT. (8 )The above figures do not include costs incurred planting trees and plants as part of the environmental and screening works on major projects and schemes. The above costs are indicative of spend on outdoor and indoor plants and trees. The Highways Agency does pay additional ‘grounds maintenance’ charges to its landlords and managing agents, but any spend on plants or trees cannot be split out from the service charge. The increase in 2006-07 costs relate to Highways Agency Regional Control Centre estate coming on-stream and office relocation in Bedford that involved extensive planting as part of the ‘fit out’. All plant contracts have now expired and will not be renewed. (9 )Relates to winter bedding plants. Costs at agency HQ and training centre are built into the maintenance contract of the estate and to extract this level of information would be at disproportionate cost. (10) Not recorded. VOSA do not record this level of detail and to extract this level of information would be at disproportionate cost.

Roads: Freight

Robert Flello: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what discussions he has had with the road freight industry on the use of dual-fuel trucks to reduce carbon emissions.

Stephen Hammond: In July 2011, the then Secretary of State for Transport, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond), met with a number of representatives of the road freight transport industry to discuss the barriers preventing market uptake of low emission HGVs. Following this, a Task Force was established under the 2011 Logistics Growth Review to promote the use of fuel efficient, low emission road freight technologies. Also announced under the Logistics Growth Review was a low carbon truck and infrastructure trial. 13 projects were subsequently chosen to receive funding to trial alternatively-fuelled trucks including over 300 dual fuel trucks.
	Since joining the Department, I attended a meeting of the Task Force in November 2012 to hear the views of the industry on issues including alternatively fuelled vehicles.
	I met with the Freight Transport Association (FTA) in November 2012 on a range of issues including measures to reduce carbon emissions from freight.
	I met with UPS in January 2013 and discussed the use of biomethane as an alternative fuel for HGVs.
	In February 2013 I attended the Department's annual “Listening to Industry” event hosted jointly with the FTA and attended by over 100 representatives from the freight industry where many issues, including the Department's approach to alternative fuels, were raised.
	Officials are in regular contact with a range of representatives of the road freight industry on the use of dual fuel trucks to reduce carbon emissions.

Shipping: Exhaust Emissions

Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport 
	(1)  what assessment he has made of the report by the UK Chamber of Shipping entitled Impact on Jobs and the Economy of Meeting the Requirements of MARPOL Annex VI; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what assessment he has made of the potential effect that (a) shipping route closures arising from and (b) other consequences of meeting MARPOL Annex VI requirements will have on UK economic competitiveness.

Stephen Hammond: The Department welcomes the report commissioned by the Chamber of Shipping and the Department will consider its findings carefully. The evidence about potential route closures from this and other relevant studies will be incorporated into the Department's Impact Assessment on the new sulphur requirements, which will be published later this year. Our assessment will also consider the economic cost to the UK as well as the benefits in terms of improved public health and reduced damage to the environment.

Shipping: Exhaust Emissions

Jim Fitzpatrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the effect of MARPOL Annex VI on the viability of vital shipping routes; and if he will make a statement.

Stephen Hammond: Last year, in response to concerns raised by industry, I invited shipping and port stakeholders to give substance to their concerns about possible modal shift and the viability of some services. In response, the UK Chamber of Shipping commissioned a study, the results of which were published on 8 March 2013. The Department will carefully assess the study and consider its findings.

Shipping: Exhaust Emissions

Jim Fitzpatrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the effect of MARPOL Annex VI on diesel prices for consumers; and if he will make a statement.

Stephen Hammond: Most studies which have considered the impact of the new limits recognise the difficulty in forecasting such price changes. The effect that MARPOL Annex VI would have on diesel prices paid by road users depends critically on the behaviours and investment decisions of both shipping operators and refineries. The full impact on prices will only be evident after the implementation date for the sulphur requirements of MARPOL Annex VI.

Shipping: Registration

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he last met with officials in the Maritime and Coastguard Agency; and whether the Maritime Labour Convention was discussed.

Stephen Hammond: Ministers in the Department meet with officials from the Maritime and Coastguard Agency on a regular basis to discuss the work of the agency. In particular I met with officials on Thursday 10 January, and during that meeting matters relating to the Maritime Labour Convention (MLC) were discussed. More recently, I met with representatives from the shipping industry and other Government Departments on Monday 11 March to discuss growth opportunities for the UK maritime sector. This included ratification of the MLC.

Shipping: Regulation

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport which regulations applying to the maritime industry his Department has proposed to ministerial colleagues in the Cabinet Office for consideration as part of the Red Tape Challenge.

Stephen Hammond: Over 200 maritime regulations were examined as part of the Red Tape Challenge. A full list of these regulations can be found on the Red Tape Challenge website at:
	http://www.redtapechallenge.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/themehome/maritime/
	The Government plan to make a public announcement on the outcome shortly.

Shipping: Training

Katy Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will meet representatives of the National Workboat Association to discuss the establishment of an internationally-recognised Certificate of Competency for officers on workboats under 500 gross tonnage in the UK.

Stephen Hammond: I am happy to meet the National Workboat Association (NWA) to discuss this matter. The NWA should contact my office to arrange a suitable time for this meeting.

Shrewsbury-Crewe Railway Line

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what safety assessment has been conducted of implementation of the Crewe to Shrewsbury modular signalling scheme.

Simon Burns: This is an operational matter for Network Rail and any questions should be directed to the chief executive at the following address:
	Network Rail
	Kings Place
	90 York Way
	London N1 9AG

Shrewsbury-Crewe Railway Line

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what recent discussions he has had about implementation of the Crewe to Shrewsbury modular signalling scheme.

Simon Burns: The Secretary of State for Transport, my right hon. Friend the Member for Derbyshire Dales (Mr McLoughlin) has not had any recent discussions regarding the implementation of this scheme, which is an operational matter for Network Rail.

Shrewsbury-Crewe Railway Line

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether any safety concerns have been expressed to him about implementation of the Crewe to Shrewsbury modular signalling scheme.

Simon Burns: The Secretary of State for Transport, my right hon. Friend the Member for Derbyshire Dales (Mr McLoughlin) has not received any representations concerning the safety of this scheme.

Telephone Services

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many (a) 0800, (b) 0808, (c) 0844, (d) 0845 and (e) 0870 telephone numbers for the public are in use by (i) his Department and (ii) the agencies for which he is responsible.

Norman Baker: The Department for Transport and its six Executive Agencies have two 0800 numbers and a single 0870 number which the public can call. One is a DVLA number which members of the public can use to obtain information for applications and the other is VOSA's Whistle Blower Intelligence Line. These are free phone numbers so there is no cost to the public to use them or associated revenue for the agencies.
	MCA has the 0870 public enquiry number, which is charged at national rate. The MCA receives no revenue from this line.

ATTORNEY-GENERAL

Crown Prosecution Service

John Hemming: To ask the Attorney-General how many Crown prosecutors have been disciplined for misconduct since January 2000.

Oliver Heald: Centralised records are not held for the period before 2009 and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) would incur disproportionate costs in collating that information.
	The number of Crown prosecutors disciplined for misconduct in subsequent years is given in the following table:
	
		
			  Number 
			 2009 13 
			 2010 34 
			 2011 22 
			 2012 14 
			 2013 to date 2

Pay

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Attorney-General, pursuant to the answer of 6 February 2013, Official Report, columns 775-76, on overtime, what the average cost of overtime per member of staff in (a) the Law Officers' Departments and (b) each of their arm’s length bodies was in (i) 2010-11, (ii) 2011-12 and (iii) 2012-13 to date.

Dominic Grieve: I refer the hon. Member to my answer of 4 March, Official Report, columns 775-76W, which contained information on the average cost of overtime per member of staff in the Law Officers' Departments. I am not responsible for any arm’s length bodies.

COMMUNITIES AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Fires

Peter Aldous: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what steps his Department is taking to reduce the number and severity of fires in industrial and commercial premises.

Brandon Lewis: Under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 all those responsible for non-domestic premises are required to carry out a fire risk assessment and put in place adequate fire precautions to minimise the risk to life in the event of a fire. The Department makes available a range of detailed premises-specific guidance on fire safety. This is designed to help ‘responsible persons’ understand the risk assessment process and offers technical advice on a range of fire safety measures which it may be appropriate to consider to deliver compliance. It can be viewed at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-communities-and-local-government/series/fire-safety-law-and-guidance-documents-for-business
	Fire and rescue authorities are also required by the Fire and Rescue National Framework to have in place and maintain an integrated risk management plan. This identifies local need and sets out a plan to tackle effectively both existing and potential risks to communities. The integrated risk management plan enables each fire and rescue authority to tailor the allocation of its resources to local circumstances, such as where fire station appliances are positioned, by evaluating where risk is greatest and determining its priorities in relation to prevention and response accordingly.

Fires

Peter Aldous: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many fires in industrial and commercial buildings there were in the UK in 2011.

Brandon Lewis: The Department receives records of incidents attended from fire and rescue authorities across Great Britain. Spreadsheet table 18 of Fire Statistics Great Britain contains numbers of fires by type of building with groupings for both industrial arid commercial premises. This is available up to the financial year 2011-12 and can be found on the Department's website at:
	www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-communities-and-local-government/series/fire-statistics-great-britain

Housing: Armed Forces

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Defence on housing for British forces and their families returning from Germany.

Mark Prisk: This Department and MOD continue to discuss matters of shared interest including housing for service personnel and their families.
	The Secretary of State for Defence, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond), announced on 5 March 2013 the Regular Army Basing Plan and the return of troops from Germany, detailing the Government's intention to invest £1 billion in new and refurbished MOD accommodation.
	Service personnel and their families have already been given priority for Government affordable home ownership schemes, including FirstBuy. Additionally, I have recently made changes to legislation to make it easier for service personnel to access social housing, and statutory guidance has been issued to councils on how their allocation schemes can give priority to current or ex-service personnel, for example using local preference criteria or local lettings policies.

Right to Buy Scheme: Cannock Chase

Aidan Burley: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether Cannock Chase district council has taken up the offer from his Department to help promote the Right to Buy scheme.

Mark Prisk: My Department has offered support to all stock-owning local authorities, including delivering a Right to Buy tenant roadshow in partnership with them in the local area. I understand that Cannock Chase does not wish to take up our partnership offer at this time. I have recently visited an excellent Right to Buy roadshow in Basildon and have seen at first hand the value tenants place on receiving advice and help to explore home ownership further. I would encourage Cannock Chase and all stock-owning local authorities to consider the needs of their tenants and work with my Department to hold a Right to Buy roadshow.

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Afghanistan and Pakistan

Rehman Chishti: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps she is taking to reduce the regional differences in female access to (a) education and (b) healthcare in (i) Pakistan and (ii) Afghanistan.

Alan Duncan: DFID has played a significant role improving female access to education and healthcare in Afghanistan and Pakistan over the last decade.
	In Afghanistan, UK funding to the Afghanistan Reconstruction Trust Fund supports the delivery of basic public services. Significant progress has been made: 57% of the population now lives within one hour's walking distance of a public health facility compared to 2002 when only 9% of the population had access to any basic health care. Almost half of all pregnant women now receive antenatal care and 2.3 million girls attend school, compared with virtually none under the Taliban.
	Supporting girls' access to education and women's access to health is a top priority for UK Aid to Pakistan. DFID has helped to more than double the number of lady health workers to 100,000 since 2002. In Punjab skilled birth attendance rates have increased from 33% in 2006 to nearly 60% and student attendance has increased by over 700,000 since 2011. By 2015 we will help to support over 2 million girls in school; prevent 750,000 women from developing anaemia during pregnancy; and make it easier for people to get skilled help from community midwives and skilled birth attendants.

Bangladesh

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of her Department's policy of matching contributions to a scheme to assist residents in Sunamganj, Bangladesh deal with severe flooding.

Alan Duncan: DFID agreed to provide £5 million in match funding for Islamic Relief’s 2012 Ramadan appeal. A proposal to use £1.5 million of this match funding in Bangladesh, for a project helping communities to better cope with natural disasters and climate change, is currently under consideration, but funding has not been confirmed.

Bangladesh

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment she has made of the potential contribution of deforestation in India, Nepal and Bhutan to annual flooding in Sunamganj, Bangladesh.

Alan Duncan: The UK Government have not assessed the potential contribution of deforestation in South Asia to flooding in Sunamganj district. Specifically, however, we closely monitor Bangladesh's vulnerability to flooding and natural disasters and respond in areas of high vulnerability. In Sunamganj, UK support provided through the Comprehensive Disaster Management Programme will deliver embankments, canal excavation and village walls to protect communities from flooding. Across Bangladesh, DFID's climate change and disaster resilience programmes will provide 15 million people with access to early warning systems for floods and cyclones.

Bangladesh

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will discuss with her counterparts in (a) India, (b) Nepal and (c) Bhutan the effect of deforestation on (i) Sunamganj, Bangladesh and (ii) other habitats and communities supported by aid provided by her Department.

Alan Duncan: DFID has regular discussions with partners in India and Nepal (DFID does not have a bilateral aid programme in Bhutan) on regional development issues. For example, DFID is working closely with the Government of Nepal through their Multi-Stakeholder Forestry Programme to address deforestation and illegal logging. The programme aims to increase the area of forest covered by local forestry groups and improve forestry and natural resource policies in Nepal.

Developing Countries: Family Planning

Damian Hinds: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent assessment she has made of the effect of programmes funded by her Department on average family size.

Lynne Featherstone: DFID has a significant commitment to programmes which increase girls' and women's empowerment, including their ability to access contraceptive services, supplies and information. The desire to have smaller families is complex and driven by many factors including: rising incomes, improved life expectancy, lower infant mortality, better education and increased savings, as well as changing cultural and social norms.

Developing Countries: Human Trafficking

Michael Connarty: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what projects her Department is funding to tackle human trafficking; in which countries any such projects are based; and what amount of funding for what duration is given by her Department to these projects.

Lynne Featherstone: DFID is currently supporting a regional anti-trafficking project in South Asia, focusing on India, Bangladesh and Nepal. The funding commitment is £3 million for 2012-15. DFID also currently supports Anti-Slavery International's global anti-trafficking project that has a funding commitment of £1,435,049 for 2008-13.

Overseas Aid

Eric Ollerenshaw: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what percentage of her Department's budget is provided to other countries in the form of (a) budget support, (b) aid given with governance conditionality, (c) professional expertise and (d) specific project funding.

Alan Duncan: DFID uses a range of ways to deliver bilateral aid. It is delivered through non-governmental organisations and multilateral agencies in the recipient country, in the form of technical assistance, as humanitarian aid, and as financial aid (including budget support) to partner governments.
	A full list of project categories and expenditure against these types of spending is available for 2011-12 from the following table:
	http://www.dfid.gov.uk/Documents/publications1/sid2012/Table20-broad%20sector.xls
	In 2011-12, the Department delivered approximately 13% of DFID's total bilateral aid (or 7% of total aid) in the form of budget support. This compares to 20% of DFID's bilateral aid in 2008-09 (or 11% of total aid).
	A further 13% of DFID's total bilateral aid (7% of total aid) was delivered in the form of technical assistance. This compares to 16% of DFID's bilateral aid in 2008-09 (or 9% of total aid).

Uganda

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how her Department is supporting civil society groups in Uganda campaigning for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights.

Lynne Featherstone: Her Majesty's Government are committed to ensuring that lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people around the world are free to live their lives in a safe and just environment. We are concerned about the proposed Anti-Homosexuality Bill being considered by the Ugandan Parliament and have raised our concerns regularly at all levels of Government.
	We are in close contact with Ugandan Civil Society Groups and support their efforts to improve Human Rights in Uganda. For example, the UK, with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office playing the lead role on this issue, has provided support for training, advocacy and the cost of legal cases related to the protection of LGBT communities' human rights.

CABINET OFFICE

Electoral Register

Chris Ruane: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office with reference to the Census, how many (a) UK and (b) foreign-born citizens over the age of 18 are qualified to vote in UK parliamentary elections in each English and Welsh parliamentary constituency.

Nick Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Glen Watson
	As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your question asking the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the Census, how many (a) UK and (b) foreign-born citizens over the age of 18 are qualified to vote in UK parliamentary elections in each English and Welsh parliamentary constituency. 148503
	ONS does not have the data required to answer your question. Information regarding residents born by "country of birth, by age" will be available when the next phase of Census outputs are published in June 2013.

Employment: Kent

Rehman Chishti: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many and what proportion of people in (a) Gillingham and Rainham constituency, (b) Medway and (c) Kent were employed by small and medium-sized enterprises in each of the last five years.

Nick Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Glen Watson, dated March 2013
	As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking how many and what proportion of people in (a) the Gillingham and Rainham constituency, (b) Medway and (c) Kent were employed by small and medium-sized enterprises in each of the last five years. (147212)
	Annual statistics on the number of businesses (enterprises) are available from the ONS release—UK Business: Activity, Size and Location at:
	http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/bus-register/uk-business/index.html
	The table shows the employment count of small and medium-sized businesses and that employment count expressed as a proportion of people living in (a) Gillingham and Rainham constituency, (b) Medway and (c) Kent. Employment counts are shown from 2008 to 2012 but population counts are only available up to 2011.
	Small businesses have been defined as those with an employment between 0 and 49 and medium-sized businesses as those with an employment between 50 and 249.
	
		
			  2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 
			  Small Med Small Med Small Med Small Med Small Med 
			 Gillingham and Rainham           
			 Employment count(1) 7,564 2,472 7,671 2,654 7,087 2,006 6,879 2,653 7,048 3,334 
			 Population count(2) 62,979 62,979 62,808 62,808 63,002 63,002 64,475 64,475 n/a n/a 
			 Proportion % 12.0 3.9 12.2 4.2 11.2 3.2 10.7 4.1 n/a n/a 
			            
			 Medway UA           
			 Employment count(1) 24,378 7,166 24,747 7,302 24,444 7,945 23,819 9,504 25,016 10,580 
			 Population count(2) 167,374 167,374 167,970 167,970 168,976 168,976 173,506 173,506 n/a n/a 
			 Proportion % 14.6 4.3 14.7 4.3 14.5 4.7 13.7 5.5 n/a n/a 
			            
			 Kent county(3)           
			 Employment count(1) 196,878 70,042 199,236 73,182 195,846 72,321 191,046 73,819 197,386 73,904 
			 Population count(2) 882,389 882,389 886,164 886,164 894,520 894,520 917,880 917,880 n/a n/a 
		
	
	
		
			 Proportion % 22.3 7.9 22.5 8.3 21.9 8.1 20.8 8.0 n/a n/a 
			 (1) Employment counts are taken from extracts of the Integrated Business Register (IDBR) during March of each year. (2) Population counts for 2008 to 2010 are mid-year estimates and relate to 30 June. Census day was on 27 March 2011. Census day figures are used for 2011 as mid-2011 estimates are not yet available for parliamentary constituencies. The mid-year estimates for mid-2008 to mid-2010 have not yet been revised to bring them into line with the 2011 census results. This means that there is a step change between the mid-2010 and the census day figures. (3) The Kent figures cover the current administrative county of Kent. If figures for the ceremonial county of Kent are required then the figures for Kent and Medway should be added together. Note: Please note that these numbers do not include very small businesses, typically those below the threshold for VAT and PAYE. Source: Office for National Statistics

Energy: Cumbria

John Woodcock: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many people in (a) Barrow and Furness constituency, (b) Barrow-in-Furness local authority area and (c) South Lakeland local authority area are employed in the energy sector.

Nick Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Glen Watson, dated March 2013
	As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question concerning how many people in (a) Barrow and Furness constituency, (b) Barrow-in-Furness local authority area and (c) South Lakeland local authority area are employed in the energy sector.
	Annual employment statistics are available from the Business Register and Employment Survey (BRES). Table 1 as follows contains the latest figures available, which show the number in employment in 2011 for industries that are considered to be in the energy sector for Barrow and Furness constituency, and the local authority districts of Barrow-in-Furness and South Lakeland.
	National and local area estimates for many labour market statistics, including employment, unemployment and claimant count are available on the NOMIS website at
	http://www.nomisweb.co.uk
	Figures are rounded to the nearest 100.
	
		
			 Table 1: Employment in Barrow and Furness constituency and the local authority districts of Barrow-in-Furness and South Lakeland for the electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply sector 
			 Geographic area Electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply 
			 Barrow and Furness constituency 200 
			 Barrow-in-Furness local authority district 200 
			 South Lakeland local authority district 0 
			 Note: The industries given above are based on the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) 2007.

Voluntary Work: Young People

John Woodcock: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many young people in (a) Barrow and Furness constituency and (b) Cumbria participated in the National Citizen Service in the last 12 months.

Nick Hurd: In 2012 115 young people took part in National Citizen Service in Barrow and Furness and over 500 young people took part in Cumbria.

DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER

EU Countries

Keith Vaz: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many times he has visited member states of the European Union in an official capacity since 2010.

Nicholas Clegg: I have made 17 trips to member states of the European Union in an official capacity since 2010.

Population

Chris Ruane: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister in which parliamentary constituencies was the number of persons on the electoral register in 2011 greater than the number of adults recorded in the 2011 Census; and if he will make a statement.

Nick Hurd: I have been asked to reply 
	on behalf of the Cabinet Office.
	The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Glen Watson
	As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question in which parliamentary constituencies was the number of persons on the electoral register in 2011 greater than the number of adults recorded in the 2011 Census; and if he will make a statement. 148106
	I attach a file containing 2011 Census Table QS103EW which provides the information you have requested for Parliamentary Constituencies. This was previously sent to you under PQ reference 142060.
	This information is also freely available for download from the NOMIS website:
	www.nomisweb.co.uk
	I also attach a file containing the number of people who on 1 December 2011 were registered to vote in local and parliamentary elections in the UK.
	As both tables are quite large, they will be stored in the library of the House.

BUSINESS, INNOVATION AND SKILLS

Copyright

Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what types of content he intends researchers to be able to mine under a non-commercial exception for data analytics; what consultation he has carried out with regard to those proposals; and if he will make a statement.

Jo Swinson: The Government do not propose to restrict the types of content to which the non-commercial exception for data analytics will apply. This measure was recommended by the independent Hargreaves Review of Intellectual Property and Growth (2010-11) and was consulted on by the Government between December 2011 and March 2012 along with other copyright measures. Technical review of draft regulations to implement this change is planned for later this year.

Energy: Industry

Nicholas Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills pursuant to the answer of 28 February 2013, Official Report, column 635W, on energy: industry, when he plans to set out the details of support to be provided to energy intensive industries.

Michael Fallon: We expect to publish guidance once the European Commission has cleared the Government's proposals to support energy intensive industries (EII); our current plans envisage publication in April. For Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) compensation, we expect to commence payments by the end of July.
	Our plans for indirect carbon price floor compensation are still under consideration by the Commission, we expect state aid clearance to take longer than for ETS compensation. However, we are hopeful that we will be in a position to commence payments in the autumn.

Executives: Pay

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what strategies his Department has put in place to monitor top executive pay and bonuses.

Jo Swinson: The Government have no plans to centrally monitor top executive pay and bonuses as there are already a range of organisations which successfully carry out this task, such as the High Pay Centre, proxy voting agencies and remuneration advisers.
	Government reform of the way executive pay is reported on by companies will make it easier for these organisations and investors to monitor pay. Company remuneration reports will have to provide clear and comparable information and, for the first time, a single figure showing the amount each director received in a particular year. These reforms will come into force on 1 October 2013.

Higher Education: Admissions

Eric Ollerenshaw: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what steps he is taking to ensure children from less privileged backgrounds are not deterred from applying to university.

David Willetts: The coalition Government have been very clear about the importance of widening participation and improving fair access in higher education—all those with the ability should have access to higher education irrespective of family income.
	Under our student finance reforms no eligible student pays up front for their first degree. Loans are only repaid once graduates have jobs and are earning over £21,000.
	The Government are establishing a new framework, with increased responsibility placed on universities to widen participation. This includes arrangements for new annual access agreements and a new National Scholarship Programme. Universities plan to spend over £670 million in 2016/17 on measures to widen participation through their access agreements. To make sure that we are doing everything possible to widen participation and promote fair access BIS Ministers asked the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) and the Office for Fair Access (OFFA) to develop a shared strategy for access and student success which will include advice to ensure we achieve the maximum impact from spending by Government, HEFCE and institutions. HEFCE and OFFA are due to deliver the strategy in autumn 2013.

Planning Permission: Devon

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills whether (a) he or (b) Ministers in his Department have had any discussions with Councillor Graham Brown of East Devon District Council about planning matters since May 2010.

Jo Swinson: No discussions have taken place between Ministers in the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and Councillor Graham Brown of East Devon district council about planning matters since May 2010.

CULTURE MEDIA AND SPORT

Public Libraries: Closures

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport with reference to the Government response to the Third Report of the Culture, Media and Sport Committee of Session 2012-13, on library closures, Cm 8535, page 6, when her Department plans to issue guidance highlighting potential efficiencies from sharing services.

Hugh Robertson: The lessons learned from the Future Libraries Programme, a joint Local Government Association (LGA)/DCMS initiative, were published by the LGA in “Local solutions for future local library services” in June 2012. The publication includes advice and examples of shared services work being undertaken by local authorities, as well as the potential benefits that can be derived. In addition, Arts Council England (ACE) developed the Library Development Initiative to test new approaches to library service delivery, including shared services. LGA and ACE have also now engaged directly with nearly 100% of elected councillors with executive responsibility for the library service through joint leadership seminars and peer support, and this included learning about models for shared library services. A crucial part of the LGA's work is to spread best practice, including shared services, and they also have a wider programme looking at shared services across all kinds of services, not just libraries. The Department will continue to engage with LGA and ACE and provide further information relating to sharing services as it becomes available.

Telephone Services

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many (a) 0800, (b) 0808, (c) 0844, (d) 0845 and (e) 0870 telephone numbers for the public are in use by (i) her Department and (ii) the agencies for which she is responsible.

Hugh Robertson: The Department does not have any 0800, 0844, 0845, and 0870 telephone numbers for the public. Information relating to our agencies is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

HOME DEPARTMENT

British Overseas Territories

Thomas Docherty: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many full-time equivalent civil servants in her Department are working on matters related to the UK Overseas Territories.

James Brokenshire: holding answer 11 March 2013
	There are a small number (fewer than five) of full-time equivalent civil servants working for the Home Office on Overseas Territories matters. This figure includes UK-based staff and some overseas staff on secondments. Some of the latter may be included in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office figures.

Constituencies

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what representations she has made to other Ministers in her Department on constituency issues; on what date such representations were made; and to which Minister each such representation was made.

Theresa May: I make representations on behalf of my constituents on a wide range of issues. It is not Home Office practice to disclose the details of MPs’ constituency correspondence to a third party.

Cybercrime

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the Government's policy is on engagement with the European Cybercrime Centre operated by Europol.

James Brokenshire: The Government support the creation of the European Cybercrime Centre. We will engage with the centre through the existing management structure for Europol to ensure that it is focused on the development of an approach to tackling cybercrime that supports member states, including the use of joint investigation teams to tackle cross-border cybercrimes, skills and capability development and best practice sharing, as well as being a significant avenue for the sharing of law enforcement intelligence with other member states. We will encourage the centre to engage closely at operational level with the new National Cyber Crime Unit, and with its equivalents in other member states.

Cybercrime

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what representations the Government have made to Europol on the European Cybercrime Centre.

James Brokenshire: In the Explanatory Memorandum of 23 April 2012 relating to the proposals for a Europol European Cybercrime Centre (EC3), the Government broadly supported the proposals. We set out a number of concerns relating to the detail of the centre, which we were successful in negotiating on with the Commission. Since then we have been working to ensure that the Commission and the Cybercrime Centre Project Board respect these conclusions as they develop the implementation plans for the centre.
	Europol has produced a blueprint, setting out how the EC3 will operate, and what it will do to support work to tackle cybercrime across the EU. We are currently considering our response to Europol.

Detica

Julian Huppert: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what support BAE Systems Detica has provided to her Department in (a) 2009, (b) 2010, (c) 2011, (d) 2012 and (e) 2013.

James Brokenshire: holding answer 11 March 2013
	The Home Department and its agencies have received support from BAE Systems Detica through the contracts detailed in the following table:
	
		
			 Supplier name Contract name Date commenced 
			 Detica Ltd Data Analysis service investigating Fraud and Corruption in UKBA 2 January 2013 
			 Detica Ltd Maintenance of IT System(SACU) from Dec 12 to March 13 (Qrt 4) 9 November 2012 
			 Detica Ltd Technical Design and Assurance Manager 1 August 2012 
			 Detica Ltd Business Objects 17 May 2012 
			 Detica Ltd IT Maintenance 20 April 2012 
			 Detica Ltd Scoping Study—SACU Continuity Project 27 March 2012 
			 Detica Ltd Programme Test Manager 19 October 2011 
			 Detica Ltd Netreveal Training 18 August 2011 
			 Detica-Ltd SACU Case System 19 May 2011 
			 Detica Ltd Data Analyst 8 November 2010 
			 Detica Ltd Project Cyclamen 2 September 2010 
			 Detica Ltd CLAS Consultant 27 August 2010 
			 Detica Ltd Parasol Hardware/Software Support 21 July 2010 
			 Detica Ltd NGIST—Technical Architect 10 June 2010 
		
	
	
		
			 Detica Ltd EU Return Fund 17 December 2009 
			 Detica Ltd Public Key Infrastructure Analysis 11 December 2009 
			 Detica Ltd CSAFS SACU Proactive Analytics Support 12 November 2009 
			 Detica Ltd ID Cards—Foreign Nationals 22 October 2009 
			 Detica Ltd Server Enhancement 28 August 2009 
			 Detica Ltd NGIST—Business Analyst 26 August 2009 
			 Detica Ltd UKBA Intelligence Group 24 August 2009 
			 Detica Ltd SACU Network Enhancement 3 July 2009 
			 Detica Ltd NGIST—Programme Support Officer 5 June 2009 
			 Detica Ltd Business Analyst/Architect 18 May 2009 
			 Detica Ltd Provision/Installation of COTS Analytics Software 30 March 2009 
			 Detica Ltd Encryption Strategy Scoping 16 March 2009 
			 Detica Ltd NGIST—Enterprise Technical Architect 2 March 2009 
			 Detica Ltd Portfolio Analysis 12 February 2009 
			 Detica Ltd Snr Enterprise Architect 13 January 2009 
			 Detica Ltd OCIO—Clientside Support 28 August 2008 
			 Detica Ltd OCIO—EA Modeller 14 August 2008 
			 Detica Ltd ROCI Implementation 23 July 2008 
			 Detica Ltd OCIO—Architect 3 July 2008 
			 Detica Ltd CJS Business Analysis 21 January 2008 
			 Detica Ltd Business Analysis Review 7 January 2008 
			 BAE Systems Surface Ships Support Refill/recharge of eight x 50ltr air cylinders 27 November 2012 
			 BAE Systems Surface Ships Support Refill of Breathing Apparatus Cascade Air Trailer Cylinders 30 June 2010 
			 BAE Systems Surface Ships Support Vessel debris removal 29 June 2010 
			 BAE Systems (Ops) Ltd Universal CB Detector Platform 14 February 2008 
			 BAE Systems (Ops) Ltd Command and Control Information Systems 15 April 2010 
			 BAE Systems Detica Communications Capabilities Development programme 2009 
			 BAE Systems Detica Communications Capabilities Development programme 2010 
			 BAE Systems Detica Communications Capabilities Development programme 2010 
			 BAE Systems Detica Communications Capabilities Development programme 2011 
			 BAE Systems Detica Communications Capabilities Development programme 2013

Detica

Julian Huppert: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether her Department holds a contract with BAE Systems Detica to provide support to the Communications Capability Development Programme.

James Brokenshire: holding answer 11 March 2013
	BAE Systems Detica is contracted to provide support under three ongoing contracts as part of the Communications Capabilities Development programme.

Entry Clearances: China

Henry Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps her Department is taking to ensure that the visa system enables Chinese tourists and business people to come to the UK while retaining control of immigration; and if she will make a statement.

Mark Harper: The Government support economic growth by delivering an effective visa service which processed over 296,000 applications for visas in 2012 from China.
	China is one of the UK's priority markets and our visa service is working well—97% of visas are processed within 15 days, and last year (2012) the number of visas issued to Chinese nationals was up by 5%.
	In December 2012 the UK Border Agency announced a package of further enhancements to the UK visa service for Chinese tourists and business. These changes which will be implemented over the next six months include:
	The introduction of shortened online application forms and streamlined requirements for Approved Destination Scheme customers (ADS).
	The establishment of a business network with dedicated embassy staff to assist businesses and investors with their UK visa requirements.
	A service for business travellers and ADS tourists which allows customers to keep their passport while their visa is being processed. This means that they can travel or apply for another visa if they need to thus reducie the time it takes to obtain two visas.
	A mobile biometric service which will be available for applicants who wish to have their biometric information taken at a location more convenient to them, rather than visiting a visa application centre.
	Priority visa eligibility which has been expanded to include Tier 4 students and those who have previously travelled within Schengen.
	Improvements to the online application process, including the introduction of help text in Mandarin.

Human Trafficking Ministerial Group

Michael Connarty: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when the Inter-departmental Ministerial Group on Human Trafficking met in each of the last three years; which Ministers attended these meetings; and when the group is next due to meet.

Mark Harper: Since the Inter-Departmental Ministerial Group was refocused in May 2010 the group has met five times. A list of members and attendees for these meetings is provided in the following tables:
	
		
			 Meeting date: 11 March 2013 
			 Name Title 
			 Attendees  
			 Mark Harper MP Minister for Immigration (Chair) 
			 Oliver Heald QC MP Solicitor-General 
			 Helen Grant MP Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Victims and the Courts and Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Equalities 
			 David Ford MLA Minister of Justice, Northern Ireland Executive 
			 Jo Swinson MP Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Employment relations, consumer and postal affairs 
			 Carl Sargeant AM Minister for Social Justice and Local Government, Welsh Assembly Government 
			 Baroness Randerson Wales Office, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State 
			   
			 Apologies  
			 Edward Timpson MP Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Children(1) 
			 David Mundell MP Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Scotland(1) 
			 Kenny MacAskill MSP Cabinet Secretary for Justice, Scottish Executive(1) 
			 Hugo Swire MP Minister of State for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office(1) 
			 Anna Soubry MP Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health(1) 
			 Lynne Featherstone MP Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for International Development(1) 
			 Mark Hoban MP Minister of State for Work and Pensions(1) 
			 Baroness Hanham MP Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Communities(1) 
			 Jeremy Browne MP Minister of State for Crime Prevention 
		
	
	
		
			 Meeting date: 17 September 2012 
			 Name Title 
			 Attendees  
			 Mark Harper MP Minister for Immigration (Chair) 
			 Jeremy Browne MP Minister of State for Crime Prevention 
			 Helen Grant MP Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Victims and the Courts and Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Equalities 
			 Anna Soubry MP Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health. 
			 David Ford MLA Minister of Justice, Northern Ireland Executive 
			 Kenny MacAskill MSP Cabinet Secretary for Justice, Scottish Executive 
			 Edward Timpson MP Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Children 
			   
			 Apologies  
			 Oliver Heald QC MP Solicitor-General(1) 
			 Baroness Hanham MP Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Communities(1) 
			 Hugo Swire MP Minister of State for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office(1) 
			 Lynne Featherstone MP Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for International Development(1) 
			 Mark Hoban MP Minister of State for Work and Pensions(1) 
			 Carl Sargeant AM Minister for Social Justice and Local Government, Welsh Assembly Government(1) 
			 David Mundell MP Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Scotland(1) 
			 Stephen Crabb MP Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State Wales 
		
	
	
		
			 Meeting date: 17 April 2012 
			 Name Title 
			 Attendees  
			 Damian Green MP Minister for Immigration (Chair) 
			 Tim Loughton MP Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Children and Families 
		
	
	
		
			 Jeremy Browne MP Minister of State, FCO 
			 Crispin Blunt MP Minister for Justice 
			 Baroness Hanham MP Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Communities 
			 David Jones MP Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Wales 
			 David Ford MLA Minister of Justice, Northern Ireland Executive 
			   
			 Apologies  
			 Lynne Featherstone MP Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Equalities and Criminal Information 
			 Stephen O'Brien MP Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for International Development(1) 
			 Anne Milton MP Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Public Health(1) 
			 Chris Grayling MP Minister for Employment(1) 
			 Kenny MacAskill MSP Cabinet Secretary for Justice, Scottish Executive(1) 
			 David Mundell MP Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Scotland(1) 
			 Carl Sargeant AM Minister for Social Justice and Local Government, Welsh Assembly Government 
			 Edward Garnier QC MP Solicitor-General(1) 
		
	
	
		
			 Meeting date: 11 October 2011 
			 Name Title 
			 Attendees  
			 Damian Green MP Minister for Immigration (Chair) 
			 Lord Wallace of Tankerness Advocate General for Scotland 
			 Baroness Hanham MP Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Communities 
			 Jeremy Browne MP Minister of State for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office 
			 David Jones MP Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Wales 
			 Stephen O'Brien MP Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for International Development 
			   
			 Apologies  
			 Edward Gamier QC MP Solicitor-General(1) 
			 Tim Loughton MP Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Children and Families(1) 
			 Anne Milton MP Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Public Health(1) 
			 Michael Moore MP Secretary of State for Scotland(1) 
			 Lynne Featherstone MP Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Equalities and Criminal Information 
			 Kenny MacAskill MSP Cabinet Secretary for Justice, Scottish Executive(1) 
			 David Ford MLA Minister of Justice, Northern Ireland Executive(1) 
			 Carl Sargeant AM Minister for Social Justice and Local Government, Welsh Assembly Government(1) 
			 Crispin Blunt MP Minister for Justice 
			 Baroness Wilcox Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills 
			 Lord Freud Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Welfare Reform 
		
	
	
		
			 Meeting date: 17 February 2011 
			 Name Title 
			 Attendees  
			 Damian Green MP Minister for Immigration (Chair) 
			 Crispin Blunt MP Minister for Justice 
			 Kenny MacAskill MSP Cabinet Secretary for Justice, Scottish Executive 
			 Edward Gamier QC MP Solicitor-General 
		
	
	
		
			 Tim Loughton MP Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Children and Families 
			 David Jones MP Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Wales 
			 Lynne Featherstone MP Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Equalities and Criminal Information 
			   
			 Apologies  
			 Anne Milton MP Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Public Health(1) 
			 Jeremy Browne MP Minister of State for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office(1) 
			 David Ford MLA Minister of Justice, Northern Ireland Executive(1) 
			 Stephen O'Brien MP Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for International Development(1) 
			 Baroness Hanham MP Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Communities 
			 Chris Grayling MP Minister for Employment 
			 David Mundell MP Scotland Office, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State 
			 Carl Sargeant AM Minister for Social Justice and Local Government, Welsh Assembly Government 
			 (1) Indicates official level deputies present at the meeting.

Immigration: EU Nationals

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people from other EU member states have been (a) deported and (b) refused entry in each of the last four years.

Mark Harper: The following table provides the total number of enforced removals and those who were initially refused entry to the United Kingdom for nationals of the EU, in each year from 2009 to 2012.
	
		
			 Enforced removals and cases initially refused entry for nationals of the EU(1,2), 2009-12 
			  Enforced removals(3,4) Initially refused entry(5) 
			 2009 768 467 
			 2010 963 463 
			 2011(6) 1,293 558 
			 2012(6) 1,726 671 
			 (1) Nationals of the EU consists of 26 countries: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Ireland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden. (2) Cases of initially refused entry at port do not necessarily relate to enforced removals in the same period. (3 )Enforced removals are where it has been established that a person has breached UK immigration laws and has no valid leave to remain within the United Kingdom. (4) Removals are recorded on the system as at the dates on which the data extracts were taken. (5) Initially refused entry relates to non-asylum cases dealt with at ports of entry. (6) Provisional figures. Figures may be revised later due to data cleansing exercises that take place after the extracts are taken. 
		
	
	Deportations are included in published enforced removals statistics which are either following a criminal conviction (foreign national offenders) or when it is judged that a person's removal from the UK is conducive to the public good; the deportation order prohibits the person returning to the UK until such time as it may be revoked. It is not possible to separately identify deportations from enforced removals.
	The Home Office publishes quarterly and annual statistics on the number of persons removed or departed voluntarily from the UK and on persons refused entry to the United Kingdom within Immigration Statistics. The data on removals and voluntary departures by type are available in the latest release, Immigration Statistics: October-December 2012, tables rv.03 and rv.03.q, and data on those who were refused at entry are available in tables be.08 to be.08q from the Library of the House and from the Home Office science, research and statistics web pages at:
	http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/science-research/research-statistics/migration/migration-statistics1/

Police: Pay

Michael Ellis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) chief constables and (b) other police officers of the Association of Chief Police Officers rank are paid more than the Prime Minister.

Damian Green: The basic salary for chief constables and other chief officers is set out in the determinations under the Police Regulations 2003 which are published under Home Office circular 013/2010.
	The Home Office does not hold information on the total remuneration provided to individual senior officers. Police and crime commissioners, and previously police authorities, are required to publish details of senior police officers' remuneration in their accounts.

Police: Recruitment

Michael Ellis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps she is taking to ensure that graduates entering the police force as direct entrants are of the highest calibre.

Damian Green: The Government want to attract the very best candidates into policing. We are currently consulting on the implementation of direct entry into the police following recommendations from Tom Winsor's Independent Review of Police Officer and Staff Remuneration and Conditions.
	Although no decisions have been taken pending conclusion of the consultation, under any direct entry scheme candidates will only be appointed if they possess exceptional qualities, and have demonstrated that they are fully capable of exercising the powers and discharging the duties of the rank. Such duties must be carried out safely, professionally and in such a way as to inspire and enhance the confidence of the officers and staff in their command, and the public who depend upon their decisions for their protection.

Terrorism Prevention and Investigation Measures

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the first High Court judgment granting (a) a control order and (b) a terrorism prevention and investigative measures order for each individual subject to a terrorism prevention and investigation measure order was; and on what date each such judgment was made.

James Brokenshire: holding answer 5 March 2013
	terrorism prevention and investigation measure (TPIM) notices may be imposed by the Secretary of State for the Home Department following the grant of permission by the High Court (in urgent cases permission may be granted retrospectively), and are then subject to a full High Court review.
	The proceedings to grant permission to impose a TPIM notice, as previously for control orders, are ex parte and are therefore not in the public domain. After a TPIM notice has been served, this information may form part of the subsequent High Court review. However, for operational reasons, this might not always be the case.

UK Border Agency: Correspondence

Richard Fuller: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many letters from hon. Members to the UK Border Agency's MPs' Liaison Unit were responded to (a) within 20 working days and (b) after 20 working days; and how long each letter which was responded to in more than 20 days took to be responded to.

Mark Harper: The UK Border Agency received 28,564 letters from hon. Members during the period January to December 2012 of which 22,475 letters were replied to within 20 working days and 6,089 letters exceeded the 20 working day target.
	The following table shows a breakdown of the days taken to reply to letters that exceeded the 20 working day target.
	
		
			  Number Percentage 
			 Total number of cases outside service standard 6,089 — 
			    
			 Between 20 and 30 days 2,230 37 
			 Between 30 and 40 days 1,168 19 
			 Between 40 and 50 days 796 13 
			 More than 50 days 1,315 22 
			    
			 Cases still outstanding 580 10 
			 Notes: 1. The figures only include letters received from the hon. Members 2. The figures provided are from management information and are therefore provisional and subject to change from published data. This information has not been quality assured under National Statistics protocols. 3. All percentage figures have been rounded to the nearest whole number.

ENVIRONMENT FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Agricultural Wages Board

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to the answer of 7 February 2013, Official Report, column 371W, on Agricultural Wages Board, how many of those who responded to the consultation requested anonymity and on what basis; how long his Department spent on examining responses to the consultation; and what steps he is taking to improve the transparency of future departmental consultations.

David Heath: There were 19 responses to the consultation that either requested confidentiality or were anonymous.
	The consultation exercise commenced on 16 October last year and we began analysing the responses as soon as they were received. A final decision on the future of the board was not taken until all the responses had been properly analysed.
	We are satisfied that the consultation was fair and transparent.

Air Pollution

Graham Stringer: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to his answer of 28 February 2013, Official Report, column 612W, on air pollution, what the sources are of the rising emissions he identifies of (a) ammonia, (b) arsenic and (c) hydrofluorocarbons in recent years.

Richard Benyon: The increase in emission of ammonia between 2010 and 2011 has principally come from the increasing use of anaerobic digestion and increases in emissions from fertiliser use.
	The increase in emissions of arsenic between 2010 and 2011 arises mainly from increases in the combustion of coal and the production of metals between these years.
	Rising emissions of hydrofluorocarbons have come from sources such as losses from refrigeration and air conditioning equipment and emissions from industrial aerosols and metered dose inhalers.

Chromium

Graham Stringer: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will institute an inventory of all emissions of hexavalent chromium in the UK.

Richard Benyon: The National Atmospheric Emissions Inventory contains an estimate of all the UK's chromium emissions to air. The UK Pollutant Release and Transfer Register contains details of significant emissions of chromium to air and to water from individual industrial installations. Both these sources are readily accessible through DEFRA's website.
	Measurements of hexavalent chromium emissions are not routinely made, given the lack of agreed measurement methods. A national inventory of hexavalent chromium with acceptable accuracy and precision is therefore not available. The measurement methods generating the information on total chromium emissions held in the inventory and register include hexavalent chromium and therefore the information provides a “worst case” picture.

Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what progress is expected (a) in Africa and (b) generally following the recent CITES Conference of the Parties in Bangkok.

Richard Benyon: The 16th Conference of Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) is currently ongoing. Until the outcomes of the conference are known, it is not possible to say what progress will come about as a result in Africa or more generally. However, the UK is working towards the agreement of measures that will secure better protection for species subject to unsustainable levels of trade, and tackle the crisis in poaching and illegal wildlife trafficking. Such action will help conserve endangered species in Africa and throughout the world.

Crayfish: Pembrokeshire

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many licences the Environment Agency has issued for crayfish trapping in Pembrokeshire in the last three years.

Richard Benyon: The Environment Agency has not issued any authorisations for crayfish trapping in this area in the last three years.
	One application was received in 2010. This was later withdrawn by the applicant because there were no crayfish present in the river they had applied to fish. There were no applications received in 2011 or 2012.
	The data presented are from the area in which Pembrokeshire sits; these areas are defined by catchment and not county boundaries.

Environment Protection: Seas and Oceans

Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate his Department has made of the economic benefits of (a) individual marine conservation zones, (b) an ecologically coherent network of marine protected areas and (c) marine biodiversity in UK seas.

Richard Benyon: The UK marine environment provides a range of benefits which can be assessed in terms of ecosystem services. These are described in the National Ecosystem Assessment (2011).
	The Impact Assessment accompanying the consultation on the designation of marine conservation zones launched in December 2012 provides an overview of potential increases in ecosystem services which could be attributed to designation of MCZs. These potential increases could include:'
	fish populations and the condition of marine habitats and species generally will benefit from greater protection and reduced sea bed disturbance,
	nature-based recreation activities (diving, angling, bird watching) can benefit from enhanced user experiences,
	protection of marine resources will benefit research and education and improve understanding of the long-term impacts of human activities on marine ecosystems,
	many people will also gain satisfaction from knowing that rare, threatened and representative marine species, habitats and features of geological or geomorphological interest are being conserved for current and future generations.
	These benefits cannot be readily quantified and the majority are not traded, so cannot be easily valued. Further work is taking place to advance the evidence base, including a DEFRA commissioned project on the benefits of benthic habitats as well as National Ecosystem Assessment follow-on work.

Fisheries: Protection

Alison Seabeck: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what plans he has for Fisheries Protection vessels; and whether his Department has discussed the future of such vessels with (a) the Ministry of Defence, (b) the UK Border Agency and (c) the Home Department.

Richard Benyon: The Marine Management Organisation is an NDPB sponsored by DEFRA and four other Government Departments. It has a remit as the regulator of marine activity including fishing in English waters. The Royal Navy has an agreement in place to provide support to the MMO in meeting its regulatory duties, including monitoring fishing activity, through its fishery protection vessels. This agreement expires on 31 March 2013. A revised agreement covering 1 April 2013 to 31 March 2016 is nearing completion.
	The current overall mission of the RN Fisheries Protection Squadron is to patrol the fishery limits of England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In respect of defining future surveillance requirements, a study is currently being undertaken collaboratively by the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) and Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) on behalf of the cross-Government Maritime Security Oversight Group. It will consider the cross-Government coastal and offshore maritime enforcement, surveillance and interdiction capability required to counter both present and future UK maritime risks. This work is currently scheduled to report by June 2013. All relevant bodies will continue to discuss how best to manage risks to UK maritime interests.

Flood Control

Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much has been spent on partnership funding expenditure on flood defence in each of the last three years; and how much is planned to be spent in such fashion in each of the next three years.

Richard Benyon: The following tables summarise the total external contributions that supplemented Government spending on flood and coastal risk management projects in England in the previous three years and the amounts that are anticipated in each of the next three years.
	In 2012-13, the Environment Agency updated the flood and coastal risk management projects programme to reflect the new partnership funding approach. Partnership funding clarifies what level of investment communities can expect so that they can secure funding from other sources to allow schemes to go ahead. It therefore gives local people more choice in how their community is protected as well as a method by which taxpayer funding can be spread further and achieve more.
	The figures for the financial years up to 2011-12 represent the total amounts spent.
	The figures for 2012-13 onwards are current best estimates of the amounts to be spent, based on expected contributions. They are subject to change based on final scheme out-turns and final negotiations with all partners.
	None of the figures quoted include local levy income from Regional Flood and Coastal Committees.
	
		
			 Financial year External contributions spent in England (£ million) 
			 2009-10 4.0 
			 2010-11 5.0 
			 2011-12 5.4 
		
	
	
		
			 Financial year Expected spend in England (£ million) 
			 2012-13 11.6 
			 2013-14 58.0 
			 2014-15 73.0

Floods: Insurance

Mark Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what discussions he has had with the insurance industry on flood risk insurance in the last two weeks.

Richard Benyon: I refer my hon. Friend to my previous answer of 24 January 2013, Official Report, column 407W.

Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Graham Stringer: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether, in complying with the Montreal protocol, he plans to introduce further controls on fluorinated gases used in heat pumps.

Richard Benyon: The Montreal protocol does not currently place restrictions on the use of fluorinated gases. Regulation (EC) No. 842/2006, which is already fully implemented in the UK, provides the regulatory regime under which emissions of fluorinated gases are controlled as part of our commitments under the Kyoto protocol. We are, however, currently considering a draft proposal from the European Commission for a new regulation on fluorinated gases that, should it be agreed and implemented, would place controls on the availability and use of fluorinated gases of the type that are used in many applications including heat pumps.

Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Ian Swales: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps he is taking to address the concerns of businesses in the UK's chemical sector with regards to the effects of the European Commission's proposals for revised F-Gas regulation.

Richard Benyon: We are at an early stage in the consideration of the Commission's proposals but have been working for some time to influence them and understand their impact. We are fully engaged in discussions with businesses in the UK's chemical sector as well as with the Commission and member states. We will seek to secure an agreement that is best for the UK and for the environment as a whole.

Incinerators

Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much his Department has spent in relation to bids under the private finance initiative for (a) the planned Allerton Waste Recovery Park incinerator, (b) the planned Bradford waste incinerator and (c) the planned Liverpool waste incinerator.

Richard Benyon: During the period 2005 to 2013, DEFRA has spent £1.65 million providing specialist commercial and technical guidance to local authorities in the procurement of the three planned waste incinerators. This amount comprised £620,000 for Allerton, £440,000 for Bradford and £590,000 for Liverpool. This does not include DEFRA's programme management costs, which are not readily identifiable.
	The offer of specialist support is made to local authorities in procurement, regardless of whether they have been provisionally allocated waste infrastructure private finance initiative (PFI) grants from DEFRA. Furthermore, no waste infrastructure PFI grant has been paid to any of these three projects.

Marine Protected Areas

Ben Bradshaw: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when his Department plans to complete development of an ecologically coherent network of managed marine protected areas.

Richard Benyon: The England Biodiversity Strategy states that by the end of 2016 in excess of 25% of English waters will be contained within a well managed Marine Protected Areas network. Our aim is for these sites, together with sites in UK offshore waters, to deliver the United Kingdom's contribution to meeting the 2016 target for an ecologically coherent network of marine protected areas recommended by the Oslo and Paris Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North East Atlantic.

Marine Protected Areas

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will publish the report of the Marine Protected Areas and Mobile Species desk study MB0114 at the earliest opportunity; and if he will extend the deadline for submissions to his Department's consultation on proposals for designation of marine conservation zones to take account of the time taken to publish that report.

Richard Benyon: A copy of the draft report of the Marine Protected Areas and Mobile Species desk study (MB0114) is now available on DEFRA's website. I will not be extending the deadline for submission to the Consultation on proposals for designation of Marine Conservation Zones (MCZs), as this will jeopardise designation of MCZs planned for later this year.

Marine Protected Areas

Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether his Department plans to continue to use the Ecological Network Guidance as the framework for establishing an ecologically coherent network of marine protected areas.

Richard Benyon: We have being working with the devolved Administrations on the UK commitment to an ecologically coherent network. In December 2012, we published a joint statement that sets out our developing view that the creation of a marine protected area network should be based on bio-geographic regions and our objectives to link together our network commitments across the UK and with the wider OSPAR network.
	The science supporting the principles that underpin an ecologically coherent network is still developing. The Ecological Network Guidance was produced by the Joint Nature Conservation Committee and Natural England as practical guidance for the Regional Marine Conservation Zone (MCZ) Projects to enable them to identify suitable locations for MCZs. It will not be used as the framework for establishing the UK contribution to a wider ecologically coherent network.

Members: Correspondence

Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when he intends to reply to the letter dated 22 January 2013 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton (Sir Gerald Kaufman) with regard to Mr R Butler.

Richard Benyon: The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for North Shropshire (Mr Paterson), replied to this letter on 12 March 2013.

National Wildlife Crime Unit

Neil Parish: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when he expects to respond to the recommendations of the Environmental Audit Committee regarding long-term funding for the National Wildlife Crime Unit.

Richard Benyon: The Government submitted their response to the Environmental Audit Committee's report of its inquiry into wildlife crime, including on the recommendations relating to the funding of the National Wildlife Crime Unit, on 8 March. The Committee will publish the response in due course.

Pets: Databases

Jim Fitzpatrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what information the Pets Statistics Database is collating.

David Heath: Carriers are required to enter the following information into the Pets Statistics Database:
	Carrier Name
	Route (to/from)
	Service (Cargo, freight or passenger)
	Certification Type (Pet Passport or Third Country Certificate)
	Movement Date
	Country (where paperwork issued)
	Type of Animal (Cat, Dog or Ferret)
	Number of Passes
	Number of Fails
	For failures additional information is required:
	Type of animal that failed (Cat, Dog or Ferret)
	Failure Reference Number
	Microchip Number
	Reason for Failure
	Failure Action Code
	Accompanied by any other pets
	Owner's Name
	Whether the owner resides in Great Britain
	County where owner resides in GB (if applicable)
	Owner's postcode/zipcode
	Owner's country (if applicable)

Polar Bears: Conservation

Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what representations he has made in support of a vote by the EU to introduce a ban on polar bear products at the CITES conference in Bangkok.

Richard Benyon: The UK supports greater protection for the polar bear under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). This issue is being discussed at the 16th meeting of the Conference of Parties to CITES (CoP16), currently taking place in Bangkok.
	EU member states take a common position at Conferences of the Parties on proposals to amend the level of protection afforded to species. EU member states abstained when a proposal by the United States was put to a vote in Committee on 7 March. A compromise proposal by the European Union failed to achieve the required two thirds majority on the same date. The matter may be re-opened in plenary towards the end of the Conference.

Scallops

Alison Seabeck: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs with reference to the reporting of cumulative Western Waters' (WW) scalloping activity to the EC for December 2012 of 3,523,130 KWD and November 2012 of 3,015,135 KWD and pursuant to the answer of 13 February 2013, Official Report, columns 741-2W, on scallops, that the WW scalloping fleet used 141,858 KWD in December 2012, what proportion of the balance of the increase reported for December 2012 was due to late reporting of activity for (a) November, (b) October, (c) September, (d) August, (e) July, (f) June, (g) May, (h) April, (i) March, (j) February and (k) January 2012.

Richard Benyon: Of the 507,995 KW days of additional fishing effort included in the data returns submitted to the Commission as part of the return for December 2012, submitted on 15 January 2013, 141,858 KW days related to fishing effort in December 2012. The remaining 366,137 KW days related to some instances of late reporting of activity, but also to other factors such as the completion of investigations into any issues related to data received by fisheries administrations. The proportion of this effort related to the other months of 2012 is given in the following table. As shown in the table, of the additional effort related to the other months, 1% was from effort used in June, 25% was from effort used in July, and so on.
	
		
			 Month of 2012 Percentage of increase (%) 
			 January 0 
			 February 0 
			 March 0 
			 April 0 
			 May 0 
			 June 1 
			 July 25 
			 August 15 
			 September 16 
			 October 9 
			 November 34 
			 Total January to November 100

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Bangladesh

Douglas Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether his Department is reviewing travel advice for British citizens travelling to Bangladesh in light of recent violent protests in the country.

William Hague: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) Travel Advice for Bangladesh is informed by up-to-date information which is under constant review, with the utmost consideration for the safety of British nationals.
	Our Travel Advice currently states:
	“Demonstrations and protests are frequent. They can occur suddenly and quickly turn violent and may include the burning of buses and attacks on property, road blocks and confrontation with the police. There are regular enforced strikes, known locally as hartals. There has been serious violent disorder, which has claimed at least 70 lives across Bangladesh since 28 February... If you are intending to travel to Bangladesh, even if you are a regular visitor with family or business links, you should be aware that disruption to normal life has become frequent. You should follow developments in the news media and consult FCO Travel Advice regularly. You should also register with the British High Commission and take out comprehensive travel and medical insurance before travelling.”

Eastern Europe

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many times he has visited Romania and Bulgaria in an official capacity since 2010.

David Lidington: The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague), visited Bucharest in July 2012 to meet Prime Minister Victor Ponta. He has not yet visited Bulgaria in his official capacity.

India

Julian Huppert: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what reports he has received on (a) the number of people in prison in India who have been sentenced to death and (b) the proportion of those sentenced to death who are (i) Sikh and (ii) political prisoners.

Hugo Swire: Publicly available figures indicate that there are 476 individuals who have been sentenced to death in India. The Government have received no reports on the breakdown of this figure by religion.
	It is the long-standing policy of the British Government to oppose the death penalty in all circumstances as a matter of principle. While I was in New Delhi on 19 February, as part of the Prime Minister's delegation, I raised our concerns with Ranjan Mathai, the Foreign Secretary at the Indian Ministry of External Affairs. The British Government will also continue to make their position clear to the Indian Government, both bilaterally and through the EU, and urge them to introduce a formal moratorium with a view to eventual abolition of the death penalty.
	I refer the hon. Gentleman to the debate on the ‘Death Penalty (India)’ on 28 February 2013, Official Report, columns 492-529.

Plants

Andrew Bridgen: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much his Department spent on indoor and outdoor plants and trees in each year from 2005 to 2010.

David Lidington: Our central records show the following spend on plants and trees in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office's (FCO) UK estate for the years 2005-08 (to provide information for the FCO's overseas network would incur disproportionate cost):
	
		
			  £ 
			 2005 0 
			 2006 527 
			 2007 1,824 
			 2008 4,588 
		
	
	In December 2008, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) entered into a centrally managed facilities management contract with Interserve FM. The contract provides for the maintenance and replacement of plants and trees already in situ at no additional cost to the Department. Costs for the provision of additional trees and plants on the FCO's UK estate in 2009-10 were as follows:
	
		
			  £ 
			 2009 0 
			 2010 2,720 
		
	
	In addition, the following was spent on plants and plant stands for high-profile international events at Lancaster House for the years 2008-10 (there is no record available for spend at Lancaster House previous to 2008):
	
		
			  £ 
			 2008 1,555 
			 2009 645 
			 2010 870

Serbia

Bob Stewart: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent assessment he has made on the progress of EU-mediated talks between Kosovo and Serbia in the Northern Kosovo dispute and the effect of such discussions on Serbia's bid for EU accession talks.

David Lidington: The UK welcomes the focus on northern Kosovo in the EU-facilitated Dialogue. Prime Ministers Thaci and Dacic have met on six occasions, under the chairmanship of Baroness Ashton, to discuss the difficult issues that need to be addressed in order to make progress towards eventual normalisation of the Serbia-Kosovo relationship. Some useful progress has been made, including on integrated border management and the exchange of liaison officers in Pristina and Belgrade. The Prime Ministers will meet again on 20 March.
	When I met Serbian First Deputy Prime Minister Vucic on 7 March, I set out clearly the UK's support for the opening of accession negotiations with Serbia once the conditions set out by the December General Affairs Council have been met, and in particular the need for Serbia to dismantle its illegal security and judicial structures in the north. We urge all parties to engage swiftly and constructively to reach an agreement and begin implementation.

Syria

Douglas Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the statement of 6 March 2013, Official Report, columns 961-4, on Syria, who will conduct the training of armed groups on their responsibilities and obligations under international law; who will be eligible for such training; and how such training will be funded.

William Hague: As I announced on 6 March to Parliament, we will be reinforcing to the Syrian opposition its obligations to respect human rights and international humanitarian law by providing training from international non-governmental experts in the law of armed conflict and appropriate conduct. This will be carried out in close coordination with the Syrian National Coalition, which will play an active role in selecting participants. We take great care in identifying the recipients of our assistance to ensure that they are legitimate members of the opposition. The training is being funded from the Government's tri-departmental Conflict Pool (Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Ministry of Defence and Department for International Development).

JUSTICE

Criminal Injuries Compensation

Tom Greatrex: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many awards of compensation were made by the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority in (a) 2010-11 and (b) 2011-12.

Helen Grant: The figures requested are as follows:
	
		
			  Awards paid 
			 2010-11 39,750 
			 2011-12 32,954

Criminal Injuries Compensation

Tom Greatrex: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many complaints were made about delays in awarding compensation by the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority in (a) 2010-11 and (b) 2011-12.

Helen Grant: The Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA) received 155 complaints in 2010-11 and 91 complaints in 2011-12 where delay was the primary reason for complaint. Throughout this time CICA was dealing with approximately 50,000 active cases, meaning the ratio of complaints to cases is extremely low.

Criminal Injuries Compensation

Tom Greatrex: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many awards for compensation made by the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority were made, having initially been refused and that refusal being subsequently overturned, in each of the last 10 years.

Helen Grant: The following figures reflect cases where a Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA) claims officer overturned another claims officer's decision to refuse compensation. This happens when the claimant asks CICA to review the case. This is distinct from an appeal, which is heard by the Tribunals Service.
	
		
			  Awards made after initial refusal 
			 2002-03 3,153 
			 2003-04 2,686 
			 2004-05 2,513 
			 2005-06 1,987 
			 2006-07 1,856 
			 2007-08 2,184 
			 2008-09 2,778 
			 2009-10 2,678 
			 2010-11 1,925 
			 2011-12 1,713

Criminal Injuries Compensation

Tom Greatrex: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many applicants for eligibility under the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme were (a) successful and (b) unsuccessful in being awarded payments for loss of earnings in (i) 2010-11 and (ii) 2011-12.

Helen Grant: The figures requested are as follows:
	
		
			  Successful claims for loss of earnings Unsuccessful claims for loss of earnings 
			 2010-11 903 1,654 
			 2011-12 696 1,699

Criminal Injuries Compensation

Tom Greatrex: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many appeals were made by those seeking payment for loss of earnings under the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme having been initially refused in each of the last 10 years.

Helen Grant: The figures requested are as follows:
	
		
			  Number of appeals against decisions with a refused loss of earnings component 
			 2002-03 150 
			 2003-04 144 
			 2004-05 109 
			 2005-06 82 
			 2006-07 73 
			 2007-08 57 
			 2008-09 67 
			 2009-10 67 
			 2010-11 75 
			 2011-12 78

Criminal Injuries Compensation

Tom Greatrex: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many appeals made by those seeking compensation for loss of earnings under the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme were overturned following the appeal in each of the last 10 years.

Helen Grant: The figures requested are as follows. They reflect cases where the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority offered compensation for an injury but rejected the claim's loss of earnings component, but the appeal tribunal awarded loss of earnings.
	
		
			  Loss of earnings decisions overturned at appeal 
			 2002-03 37 
			 2003-04 37 
			 2004-05 37 
			 2005-06 31 
			 2006-07 36 
			 2007-08 26 
			 2008-09 32 
			 2009-10 32 
			 2010-11 30 
			 2011-12 28

Drugs: Prosecutions

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Islington South and Finsbury (Emily Thornbray) of 18 December 2012, Official Report, column 717W, on drugs: prosecutions, if he will provide a breakdown of the data requested by police force for each of the last 10 years or for as many years as possible within the cost constraints of this question.

Oliver Heald: I have been asked to reply.
	The information requested is not available in the form requested but tables containing a breakdown of the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) figures by CPS areas have been placed in the Library of the House. Data to support this request are available only from the financial year 2007-08.
	Supply and possession of drugs offences are prosecuted under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971. The records held by the CPS identify the number of offences in which a prosecution commenced and reached a first hearing in magistrates courts, rather than the number of defendants prosecuted. The tables therefore show the number of offences, rather than defendants, charged for supply and possession offences for the last five complete financial years. Offences for possession with intent to supply have been separated out for clarity. A single defendant may be charged with more than one offence.

Illegal Immigrants: Employment

Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many employers were prosecuted for employing illegal immigrants in (a) 2010, (b) 2011 and (c) 2012.

Jeremy Wright: The number of defendants proceeded against at magistrates courts for offences related to employing illegal immigrants, in England and Wales, from 2010 to 2011 (latest available), can be viewed in the following table.
	Court proceedings data for 2012 are planned for publication in May 2013
	
		
			 Number of defendants proceeded against at magistrates courts for offences related to employing illegal immigrants, England and Wales, 2010-11(1,2) 
			 Offence description 2010 2011 
			 Employing a person aged 16 and above subject to immigration controll(3) 5 2 
			 Employing a person knowing that they are an adult subject to immigration control(4) 8 2 
			 Employing accession state national subject to worker authorisation in accession period(5) 1 0 
			 (1) The figures given in the table relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences it is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe. (2) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. (3) An offence under section 8 Asylum and Immigration Act 1996, amended Asylum and Immigration Act 2004. (4) An offence under s.21 Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006 (5) Offence under R12(1)(b) and (6) Accession (Immigration and Worker Authorisation) Regulations 2006. Source: Justice Statistics Analytical Services—Ministry of Justice

Immigration: Judicial Review

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice pursuant to the answer of 30 January 2013, Official Report, column 845W, on judicial review, how many of the applications for permission to apply for judicial review in immigration or asylum cases related to immigration or asylum applications that, at the time of application, had not received a final decision by the UK Border Agency.

Helen Grant: Management information is not centrally collected on whether a final decision has been made by the UK Border Agency at the time a judicial review is issued. This information is only available from the individual grounds on the claim form on each paper file and could be analysed only at disproportionate cost.

Life Imprisonment

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many prisoners are serving life sentences; what state benefits they are entitled to receive; and what the estimated monetary value is of such benefits.

Jeremy Wright: The number of prisoners in England and Wales serving a life sentence as at 31 December 2012 was 7,657. These figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.
	The legal position on prisoners and benefits is as follows: Social Security Contributions and Benefits Act 1992 section 113(1)(b) provides that a person who is undergoing imprisonment or detention in legal custody is disqualified from receiving any benefit or pension to which they are entitled and any dependency increases to which they are entitled.

Official Secrets Act 1989

Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice if he will hold discussions with the (a) intelligence agencies, (b) Crown Prosecution Service and (c) Sentencing Board on increasing the tariff for breaches of the Official Secrets Act.

Helen Grant: The Government are satisfied that the maximum penalties available for the relevant offences give the courts sufficient powers to deal with the cases which come before them. Tough maximum penalties are available for offences under the Official Secrets Act, with up to 14 years' custody for the most serious cases. We have no plans to discuss these matters with the intelligence agencies, Crown Prosecution Service or Sentencing Council.

Prisoner Escapes

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many offenders who have absconded from prisons remain at large; and if he will make a statement.

Jeremy Wright: As of 8 February 2013, 85 prisoners of the 3,706 prisoners who absconded from prison between 1 April 2004 and 31 March 2012 remain unlawfully at large.
	Absconds have been falling for nearly two decades. In 2011-12—the last full year when figures were available—there were just 179 absconds compared with 956 in 1995-96, which equates to a 81% reduction.
	The majority of prisoners are recaptured and returned to custody quickly, 92% are recaptured within six months. To date, over 97% of prisoners who absconded between 1 April 2004 and 31 March 2012 have been re-captured and returned to custody. On re-capture the prisoner will be returned to a closed prison and referred to the police for consideration for prosecution for having been unlawfully at large.

Probation

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  what the average number of meetings was between probation staff and offenders on licence who were originally sentenced for (a) murder, (b) rape, (c) violence against a person, (d) burglary, (e) sexual offences against a minor, (f) theft and (g) criminal damage to property during the first (i) zero to six, (ii) seven to 12, (iii) 13 to 18, (iv) 19 to 24 and (v) 25 to 36 months of their probation in each probation trust area in each of the last five years;
	(2)  what the average number of days was between release from prison and first engagement with a member of the probation staff in each probation trust area in (a) 2009-10 and (b) 2010-11.

Jeremy Wright: The information requested is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
	Probation staff are required to record meetings with offenders on the case management IT system for their trust as part of their day to day management of offenders. However, there is no central report that would provide the data that have been requested and to answer the question would require each trust to interrogate its database to provide a report for NOMS. These data would then have to be reconciled and collated centrally.

Probation

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what his reasons are for recommending a reduction in the number of probation areas to 16 prior to outsourcing of probation work.

Jeremy Wright: The Ministry of Justice's consultation on plans for reforming the way in which offenders are rehabilitated in the community closed on 22 February.
	The consultation document proposes that rehabilitation services are commissioned within 16 geographical contract package areas. Our premise is driven by the need to achieve economies of scale and avoid undue complexity and duplication, while also ensuring areas are large enough to support ‘through the gate' provision and facilitate Payment by Results.
	We have also consulted on how best to structure the public sector probation service so it is organised in the most efficient manner to deliver its new responsibilities.
	These are important issues and we will be looking carefully at responses to the consultation to ensure we get the details right. The response to the consultation will be published in due course.

Reoffenders: Cumbria

John Woodcock: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what estimate he has made of reoffending rates of prisoners resident in (a) Barrow and Furness constituency and (b) South Lakeland in each of the last five years for which data are available.

Jeremy Wright: In response to a Ministry of Justice consultation in 2010 on improvements to reoffending statistics, proven reoffending data are only produced at the regional, probation area and local authority level and not at constituency level.

Sexual Offences: Southwark

Harriet Harman: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many convictions for sexual offences were secured in the London borough of Southwark in each year from 2007 to 2012.

Jeremy Wright: The number of offenders found guilty of sexual offences at all courts in the London borough of Southwark for the period 2007 to 2011 (latest available), can be viewed in the following table.
	Court proceedings data for 2012 are planned for publication in May 2013.
	
		
			 Number of offenders convicted of sexual offences in the London borough of Southwark 2007-11(1,2) 
			  2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 
			 Camberwell Green Local Justice Area 24 18 25 30 26 
			 Southwark Crown Court 67 79 71 56 33 
			 (1) The figures given in the table for court proceedings relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences it is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe. (2) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. Source: Justice Statistics Analytical Services—Ministry of Justice.

Wellingborough Prison

Peter Bone: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the press notice issued by the Cabinet Office on 13 March 2013, whether HM Prison Wellingborough has been sold; and if he will make a statement.

Jeremy Wright: The former Wellingborough prison site has not been sold.
	A clerical error was made in the local press release issued on behalf of the Cabinet Office in relation to two former prison officers' quarters sold near Wellingborough. The word ‘by’ was accidentally removed so it then read ‘sold HMP Wellingborough’. The local media were informed as soon as the error was identified.

TREASURY

Aggregates Levy: Northern Ireland

Margaret Ritchie: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the timescale for the completion of the European Commission's investigation into the Aggregates Levy Credit Scheme in Northern Ireland.

Sajid Javid: The process for, and duration of, the European Commission's investigation into the Aggregates Levy Credit Scheme are determined by the Commission itself.
	However, officials continue to urge the Commission to treat the case with the importance which it deserves and will continue to work with representatives from industry and Northern Ireland authorities to provide the Commission with evidence to enable it to conclude its investigation as quickly as possible.

Child Care Tax Credit

Tim Loughton: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people have been successfully prosecuted for fraudulent child care tax credit claims when no longer using the child care hours or provider stated on their application in each of the last five years.

Sajid Javid: HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) is not a prosecuting authority. Where cases do proceed to the criminal courts the prosecution is carried out by the relevant independent prosecuting authority. This is the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) in England and Wales, the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) in Scotland, and the Public Prosecution Service in Northern Ireland (PPSNI).
	Figures for all tax credit offences including those conducted and prosecuted with or on behalf of another Government Department are set out in the following table:
	
		
			  Prosecution Conviction 
			 2012-13 to date 64 76 
			 2011-12 71 68 
			 2010-11 17 21 
			 2009-10 (1)66 (2)65 
			 2008-09 (1)96 (2)76 
			 (1) Cases (2) Individuals 
		
	
	HMRC’s management information does not include a breakdown to the level of information requested for individuals prosecuted for tax credit offences. To gather this information would incur disproportionate cost.
	Prosecution and conviction figures in any given year do not necessarily relate to the same individuals due to timing and length of case. Prosecutions in earlier years were recorded on a case basis; a case may contain more than one individual.

Child Trust Fund

Katy Clark: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will bring forward legislative proposals to prevent banks from imposing charges on Child Trust Fund accounts.

Sajid Javid: Since the Child Trust Fund started, it has been possible for account providers to make charges for the management of accounts, providing the details are made clear in the account terms and conditions. Around three quarters of all Child Trust Funds are stakeholder accounts, and charges on these accounts must not exceed 1.5% of the fund value.
	The Child Trust Fund rules allow transfers between different providers and account types.

Debts

Chris Ruane: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the level of household debt was in each region in each year for which figures are available.

Sajid Javid: In the UK National Accounts the most appropriate measure of household debt is the total financial liabilities of the Household and Non Profit Institutions Serving Households (NPISH) combined sector. Although the sectors are not split, NPISH (which includes, for example, charities, trade unions and churches) makes up less than 5% of the total financial liabilities.
	Data for the total financial liabilities of the Household and NPISH sector exist only at the UK national level and have a time series going back to 1987, as shown in Table 1.
	Annual data for 2012 are not yet available. Total financial liabilities of the Household and NPISH sector in 2012 Q3 was £1,538 billion.
	These data are published by the Office for National Statistics.
	
		
			 Table 1: Total financial liabilities of the Household and NPISH sector, final quarter of each year (apart from 2012) 
			  £ billion 
			 1987 270 
			 1988 323 
			 1989 372 
			 1990 418 
			 1991 450 
			 1992 469 
			 1993 486 
			 1994 508 
			 1995 532 
			 1996 552 
			 1997 589 
			 1998 628 
			 1999 677 
			 2000 734 
			 2001 810 
			 2002 922 
			 2003 1,049 
			 2004 1,182 
			 2005 1,256 
			 2006 1,413 
			 2007 1,521 
			 2008 1,550 
			 2009 1,533 
			 2010 1,541 
			 2011 1,529 
			 2012 (Q3) 1,538

Excise Duties: Fuels

Guto Bebb: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 17 January 2013, Official Report, column 921W, on fuels: Wales, which other remote parts of the UK are being considered for the rural fuel discount scheme.

Sajid Javid: The Government are currently considering which remote parts of the UK are likely to display similar cost characteristics to the islands currently in the scheme.

Annual Leave

Priti Patel: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many officials in (a) his Department and (b) each of its agencies and non-departmental public bodies qualify for privilege days; and what the total cost to the public purse was of the number of privilege days utilised each year by such officials.

Sajid Javid: All employees of HM Treasury and associated bodies currently qualify for two and half privilege days or the equivalent in annual leave. Privilege days taken are not recorded separately or held centrally and therefore costs for their utilisation could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

PAYE

John Glen: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps have been taken to ensure that PAYE in real time has been tested on (a) businesses with fewer than 10 employees and (b) businesses with one employee.

David Gauke: As part of the development of PAYE real time information (RTI), HMRC has been running a pilot with employers. To date, there are over 28,000 employers in the pilot with nine or fewer employees, of which over 12,000 have one employee.
	HMRC has also commissioned independent research exploring the impact of RTI during the pilot. This research is looking at confidence levels, ease and the overall impact of RTI on the employers' businesses. The findings will be used in conjunction with a wider evaluation of the pilot, which will include an assessment of the impacts on HMRC.

Revenue and Customs

John McDonnell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  if he will ensure that where HM Revenue and Customs' inquiry centres currently provide face-to-face services they will remain in their location;
	(2)  whether HM Revenue and Customs' inquiry centres that provide face-to-face services will remain in their current locations.

David Gauke: On 14 March 2013, HMRC announced a public consultation on a proposed new service for supporting customers who need extra help with getting their taxes and entitlements right. In June the Department will pilot that new service in the north east of England for a five-month period.
	HMRC plans to introduce a new service for those customers that would replace the current inquiry centre network between February and May 2014.
	The Department has written to all MPs today outlining their plans and they will run a number of events to discuss their plans.

VAT: Tourism

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will consider the merits of introducing a reduced rate of VAT on visitor accommodation and attractions in line with the practice in some other EU member states in order to stimulate this sector of the UK economy.

David Gauke: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer given to him on 12 March 2013, Official Report, column 140W.

WORK AND PENSIONS

Access to Work Programme

Anne McGuire: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people participating in (a) the Work programme and (b) Work Choice have received Access to Work support after finding employment in each quarter since the introduction of that scheme; and what proportion these people represent of the total number of people successfully supported into work.

Esther McVey: We do not collect data on people leaving the Work programme into work and receiving Access to Work. For Work Choice we have data from October 2011 to October 2012 where 1,240 participants were supported by Access to Work.

Carbon Monoxide: Alarms

Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether information supplied by his Department to recipients of the (a) winter fuel payment and (b) cold weather payment states the importance of getting appliances regularly checked and serviced by a gas-safe registered engineer and of purchasing a carbon monoxide alarm.

Steve Webb: Information on the importance of getting appliances regularly checked and serviced by a gas-safe registered engineer and of purchasing a carbon monoxide is not issued directly to recipients as part of the winter fuel payment/cold weather payment notification process.
	Customers can obtain further information from the Gas Safe Register (the Government-appointed gas registration body) at:
	www.gassaferegister.co.uk

Child Maintenance

Pamela Nash: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much remains outstanding in child maintenance arrears in (a) Airdrie and Shotts and (b) Scotland in 2012.

Steve Webb: As of December 2012, outstanding arrears on cases where the parent with care resides in Airdrie and Shotts parliamentary constituency were £7,280,000. Outstanding arrears for the same period in Scotland overall were £331,150,000.
	Full details of all arrears owed in local authorities within Scotland are shown in the Regional Tables of the Child Support Agency's Quarterly Summary of Statistics published at:
	http://statistics.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd1/child_support/2012/csa_qtr_summ_stats_regional_dec12.xls

Child Maintenance

Pamela Nash: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what child support arrears are owed by non-resident parents to parents with care, by parliamentary constituency, in the most recent period for which figures are available.

Steve Webb: I will place in the Library a table that shows, as of December 2012, the amount of child maintenance arrears owed by non resident parents, and of this amount how much is owed to the parent with care, by the parliamentary constituency of the parent with care.
	Figures are sourced from the agency's internal debt book so breakdowns will not match the general ledger figures published in the December 2012 Quarterly Summary of Statistics.

Community Care Grants: Kilmarnock

Cathy Jamieson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much was awarded in Kilmarnock and Loudoun constituency under each category of the community care grant in (a) 2010-11 and (b) 2011-12.

Steve Webb: Table 1 provides the expenditure by direction on community care grants for residents in the Inverness Social Fund Budget Area in 2010-11 and 2011-12. This is the Social Fund Budget Area covering Kilmarnock and Loudon constituency. The information requested is not available at constituency level.
	
		
			 Table 1: Community Care Grant Expenditure in the Inverness Social Fund Budget Area in 2010-11 and 2011-12 
			 £ 
			  2010-11 2011-12 
			 Direction 4(a)(i) People moving out of institutional or residential care 384,500 362,700 
			 Direction 4(a)(ii) Helping people stay in the community 1,477,800 1,181,600 
			 Direction 4(a)(iii) Families under exceptional pressure 2,616,800 2,391,900 
			 Direction 4(a)(iv) Prisoner or young offender on release on temporary licence 6,300 9,900 
			 Direction 4(a)(v) People setting up home as a planned programme of resettlement 284,500 210,000 
			 Direction 4(b) Travelling Expenses 73,900 50,300 
			 Total 4,843,900 4,206,500 
			 Notes: 1. The information provided is Management Information. Our preference is to answer all parliamentary questions using Official/National Statistics but in this case we only have Management Information available. It is not quality assured to the same extent as Official/National statistics and there are some issues with the data. For example, they do not include applications which were processed clerically and have not yet been entered on to the Social Fund Computer System. 2. Data on Community Care Grants are not held by parliamentary constituency but by Jobcentre Plus Social Fund Budget Area. The figures for the Inverness Social Fund Budget Area cover areas other than Kilmarnock and Loudoun. 3. The expenditure figures have been rounded to the nearest £100.

Community Care Grants: Kilmarnock

Cathy Jamieson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many items were awarded in Kilmarnock and Loudoun constituency under each category in the community care grant in (a) 2010-11 and (b) 2011-12.

Steve Webb: Table 1 provides the number of items awarded under community care grants for residents in the Inverness Social Fund Budget Area in 2010-11 and 2011-12. This is the Social Fund Budget Area covering Kilmarnock and Loudon constituency. The information requested is not available at constituency level and cannot be split down by direction.
	
		
			 Table 1: Community Care Grant items awarded in the Inverness Social Fund Budget Area in 2010-11 and 2011-12 
			  Number of items awarded 
			 2010-11 56,800 
			 2011-12 48,100 
			 Notes: 1. The information provided is Management Information. Our preference is to answer all parliamentary questions using Official/National Statistics but in this case we only have Management Information available. It is not quality assured to the same extent as Official/National statistics and there are some issues with the data. For example, they do not include applications which were processed clerically and have not yet been entered on to the Social Fund Computer System. 2. Data on Community Care Grants are not held by parliamentary constituency but by Jobcentre Plus Social Fund Budget Area. The figures for the Inverness Social Fund Budget Area cover areas other than Kilmarnock and Loudoun. 3. All item figures have been rounded to the nearest 100. 4. These figures are the number of items awarded, not the number of awards. A person can receive more than one item per award.

Crisis Loans: Birmingham

Stephen McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in each Birmingham borough received a crisis loan in each of the last three years.

Steve Webb: The following table gives the number of people receiving crisis loans in the local authority of Birmingham in 2009-10, 2010-11 and 2011-12. This is the lowest geographical level to which we can provide this information.
	
		
			 Crisis loans made in Birmingham LA in 2009-10, 2010-11 and 2011-12 
			  Number of people receiving crisis loans 
			 2009-10 27,000 
			 2010-11 24,430 
			 2011-12 23,560 
			 Notes: 1. The information provided is Management Information. Our preference is to answer all parliamentary questions using Official/National Statistics but in this case we only have Management Information available. It is not quality assured to the same extent as Official/National statistics and there are some issues with the data. For example, they do not include applications which were processed clerically and have not yet been entered on to the Social Fund Computer System. 2. Local authority figures have been produced by linking Social Fund Computer System data with the National Benefits Database to obtain the local authority the person lived in at the time of application. There are up to 7% of cases where we cannot link the records in this way. 3. All figures are rounded to the nearest 10. 4. These figures are the number of people, not the number of applications or awards. Some people receive more than one award.

Disability Living Allowance

Kate Hoey: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  whether existing claimants of disability living allowance will risk losing benefits if they fail to reapply for the personal independence payment and why there is no automatic migration;
	(2)  whether existing claimants of disability living allowance will risk losing benefits if they fail to reapply for personalised independence payment; and for what reason there is no automatic migration.

Esther McVey: Personal independence payment (PIP) has different entitlement criteria from disability living allowance (DLA) meaning that any current recipient of DLA invited to claim PIP will need to be assessed against the new criteria if they chose to claim. Where a DLA claimant is invited to claim PIP, but chooses not to do so, the outcome will be that their entitlement to DLA will end.
	Further details on the processes, outcomes and timetable for reassessing DLA claimants for PIP have been published on the Department's website: the Government response to the consultation on the detailed design of PIP:
	www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/pip-detailed-design-response.pdf
	and a reassessments and impacts briefing note:
	www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/pip-reassessments-and-impacts.pdf

Disability Living Allowance

Kate Hoey: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what safeguards are in place for existing claimants of disability living allowance who have to apply for the personal independence payment for the first time.

Jonathan Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what support his Department makes available for people during transition from disability living allowance to personal independence payment.

Esther McVey: All DLA claimants are currently being sent information about personal independence payment (PIP) with their annual DLA uprating letters. The letters provide information about when individuals may be affected by the introduction of PIP and what they can do to plan in advance. Information about PIP, for both claimants and advisory organisations, is also available on Gov.UK and the Department's website.
	When existing recipients of disability living allowance (DLA) aged between 16 and 64 are invited to claim personal independence payment (PIP) they will have a period of 28 days in which to submit a claim. A reminder letter will be issued and an attempt to contact the individual by phone will be made if a claim has not already been received during this four week period. Individuals who require additional time in which to claim may ask for an extension which will be given if the request appears reasonable. Where an individual is identified as needing additional support we will consider a range of options to support them including directing them to local support organisations or by arranging a visit. Communications with claimants will use their preferred format, for example Braille or audio.
	So long as the individual submits their claim within time and complies with all other requirements, payment of DLA will continue until a decision on the claim to PIP is made. Payment of DLA will cease no sooner than four weeks after the PIP decision has been taken.

Employment and Support Allowance

Kate Hoey: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what his policy is on whether a claimant of employment and support allowance in the support group who is referred to the Work Choice scheme will be reassessed in a work capability assessment.

Mark Hoban: Individuals placed in the Support Group of employment and support allowance (ESA) are those who face the greatest barriers to employment. They are not expected or mandated to undertake any work-related activity. However, should they wish to participate in work-related activity on a voluntary basis, the Government have put in place programmes such as the Work Choice scheme, to provide individuals with the necessary tailored support to do so.
	Everyone who claims ESA will undergo periodic work capability assessments (WCAs) to ascertain whether they still meet the conditions for the benefit. When an individual has a WCA, the examining health care professional will give advice on when they should be assessed again. This advice is based on a likely improvement in the person's condition over a three to 18-month period. Where the condition is unlikely to change significantly in the longer term, cases will be looked at again at a later date, normally within two years. Being on the Work Choice scheme has no bearing on the timing of future reassessment dates.

Employment and Support Allowance

Kate Hoey: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether a claimant of employment and support allowance in the support group who asks to be referred to Work Choice will have to claim jobseeker's allowance.

Esther McVey: The benefits Work Choice participants claim while on the programme are unaffected by their participation. Therefore claimants will not have to claim jobseeker’s allowance if they are in receipt of employment support allowance while participating in Work Choice.

Employment and Support Allowance

Kate Hoey: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether disability employment advisers are prohibited from referring a claimant of employment and support allowance in the support group to the Work Choice scheme.

Esther McVey: Disability employment advisers make decisions on referring potential candidates to Work Choice based purely on their suitability to the programme, including the barriers they face in accessing employment. Participation in Work Choice is voluntary and is available regardless of any benefits being claimed.

Employment and Support Allowance

Kate Hoey: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what support is available to those in the support group of employment and support allowance who wish to voluntarily undertake employment support.

Mark Hoban: ESA claimants in the support group can access support from Jobcentre Plus and the Work programme on a voluntary basis.
	For claimants with more complex needs which cannot be met through the Work programme, they can access a range of specialist disability employment provision such as Work Choice and Access to Work.

Employment and Support Allowance

Kate Hoey: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what guidance is given by his Department to disability employment advisers on situations in which people in the support group of employment and support allowance wish to undertake disability provisions and approaches them for their assistance.

Esther McVey: Disability employment advisers (DEA) are trained to work with claimants who face complex employment situations because of their disability or health condition. Operational guidance helps them to identify and refer to any provision a claimant may be suitable for and this includes those in the ESA Support Group.

Employment and Support Allowance

Kate Hoey: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether claimants of employment and support allowance in the support group are able to be referred to a work psychologist.

Mark Hoban: Employment and support allowance claimants in the support group can volunteer to access the Jobcentre Plus Offer.
	This includes a diagnostic interview. At the interview an adviser will discuss support options with the claimant. This includes whether a referral to specialist support might be appropriate, which may include a referral to a work psychologist.

Habitual Residence Test

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when his Department intends to introduce the new habitual residence test.

Mark Hoban: The Department is currently looking at ways of strengthening the habitual residence test to support the robust rules and guidance that the Department already has in place.

Habitual Residence Test

David Blunkett: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what changes he plans to make to the habitual residence test for (a) citizens of the European Area entering the UK and (b) non-EU citizens entering the UK and seeking to access public services.

Mark Hoban: The Department is currently looking at ways of further strengthening the habitual residence test, and has robust rules and guidance on income related benefits.

Housing Benefit

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether he has any plans to widen the definition of exempt accommodation in relation to support lodgings for housing benefit purposes.

Steve Webb: There are no plans to do so.

Housing Benefit: Social Rented Housing

Alasdair McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what his policy is on the exemption of families with severely disabled people from the social rented sector under-occupancy penalty.

Steve Webb: Children who are unable to share a bedroom because the nature and severity of their disabilities disturbs the sleep of the child who they would normally be expected to share with will be able to have a room of their own. Local authorities will have to satisfy themselves that this is the case, taking into consideration the circumstances of each individual case.
	Those who require an extra bedroom for a non-resident overnight carer (or team of carers) will also be able to claim housing benefit for an extra bedroom. This is also a matter for local authorities.

Housing Benefit: Social Rented Housing

Alasdair McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what criteria will be used to determine eligibility for the hardship fund for the social rented sector under-occupancy penalty.

Steve Webb: The Department will issue guidance to local authorities on how best they can use discretionary housing payments to support those who have been affected by the removal of the spare room subsidy, including disabled people and other priority groups who may require additional assistance.
	It is important that local authorities have discretion to consider individual claims which is why local authorities continue to have responsibility for administering discretionary housing payments as they are best placed to make decisions based on local circumstances.

Housing Benefit: Social Rented Housing

Alasdair McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what criteria will be used to determine exemptions from the social rented sector under-occupancy penalty for (a) people with children with severe disabilities and (b) people who require full-time care.

Steve Webb: Children who are unable to share a bedroom because the nature and severity of their disabilities disturbs the sleep of the child who they would normally be expected to share with will be able to have a room of their own. Local authorities will have to satisfy themselves that this is the case, taking into consideration the circumstances of each individual case.
	Those who require an extra bedroom for a non-resident overnight carer (or team of carers) will also be able to claim housing benefit for an extra bedroom. This is also a matter for local authorities.

Housing Benefit: Social Rented Housing

Alasdair McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the number of (a) people who require full-time care and (b) households with severely disabled children that will be exempt from the social rented sector under-occupancy penalty in Northern Ireland.

Steve Webb: The information requested is not available.

Housing Benefit: Social Rented Housing

Sarah Champion: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in Rotherham constituency (a) have been and (b) will be affected by the (i) housing benefit cap, (ii) social sector size criteria and (iii) benefit cap of £500; and what the average loss will be in each such case.

Steve Webb: The caps to local housing allowance (LHA) rates do not apply in Rotherham because the LHA rates in Rotherham are lower than the caps.
	The information for (ii) is not available at constituency level. Estimates at a national and regional level are available in the impact assessment at:
	http://www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/social-sector-housing-under-occupation-wr2011-ia.pdf
	The social sector size criteria measure will come into effect from April 2013.
	The information for (iii) has been placed in the Library and can be found at:
	http://data.parliament.uk/DepositedPapers/Files/DEP2012-1587/LibraryDocument125527.pdf
	Please note that as the benefit cap will be applied through a phased roll-out from 15 April 2013 and at a national level from 15 July 2013, at present no households have been affected by the cap. The figures are consistent with the impact assessment published on 16 July 2012. The figures in the table assume that the situation of these households will go unchanged, and they will not take any steps to either work enough hours to qualify for working tax credit, renegotiate their rent in situ, or find alternative accommodation. The Department is identifying and writing to all the households who are likely to be affected by the cap and we are offering advice and support through Jobcentre Plus, including, where appropriate, early access to the Work programme before the cap is introduced.
	Please note that household numbers are rounded to the nearest 100. Areas with fewer than 100 households affected are denoted by "..", as additional disclosure control has been applied to these areas. For this reason, figures will not sum to the total number of households affected in the July 2012 impact assessment for the household benefit cap. Due to these disclosure controls we are unable to state the average loss due to the benefit cap in this constituency.

Housing Benefit: Social Rented Housing

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  how many people live in supported lodgings and are exempt for housing benefit purposes in (a) Garston and Halewood constituency, (b) Liverpool and (c) England;
	(2)  how many people aged 16 or 17 live in supported lodgings and are exempt for housing benefit purposes in (a) Garston and Halewood constituency, (b) Liverpool and (c) England.

Steve Webb: The information requested is not available.
	The most recent information on the number of people in supported “exempt accommodation” is in the DWP research report No 714, “‘Exempt' and supported accommodation”, published in December 2010.

Incapacity Benefit: Greater Manchester

Jonathan Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when he expects the reassessment of individuals in Stalybridge and Hyde constituency in receipt of incapacity benefit to be complete.

Mark Hoban: The incapacity benefit reassessment process is expected to be completed by spring 2014.

Jobseeker's Allowance

Fabian Hamilton: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether people who have had their jobseeker's allowance stopped as a result of missing a single adviser appointment and who are on hardship payments are still categorised as jobseekers.

Mark Hoban: If a claimant has received a sanction for missing a single adviser appointment without good reason, and is receiving hardship payments, then they are still categorised as jobseekers and therefore they are still included on the claimant count.

Members: Correspondence

Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when he intends to reply to the letter dated 24 January 2013 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton (Sir Gerald Kaufman) with regard to Mrs Jacquie Gray.

Mark Hoban: The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, my right hon. Friend the Member for Chingford and Woodford Green (Mr Duncan Smith), replied to the right hon. Gentleman on 9 March 2013.

Mobility

Richard Fuller: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the support available to disabled people who require a large wheelchair accessible vehicle and as such face higher mobility costs due to low fuel efficiency of such vehicles.

Esther McVey: The Government have not made an assessment specifically on whether disabled people with wheelchair accessible vehicles have higher mobility costs due to low fuel efficiency of the vehicle.
	However, disabled people with wheelchair accessible vehicles are likely to be in receipt of disability living allowance which provides a contribution towards the extra costs of disability. Disability living allowance is flexible and recipients can spend the money in a way that best suits their needs.
	People in receipt of the higher rate mobility component of disability living allowance can chose to lease or purchase cars, powered wheelchairs and scooters through the Motability Scheme by using some or all of their benefit. In addition to the car or powered wheelchair/scooter, as part of the lease agreement, scheme customers receive insurance and maintenance on the vehicle, free of charge.
	The specialised vehicles fund, which Motability administers on behalf of the Department for Work and Pensions, can provide financial assistance towards the costs of complex vehicle adaptations.

Pensions

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what appeals process exists for claimants who, when checking their pension entitlement, find that not all contributions that they have paid appear on their record.

Esther McVey: Contributors can check the contributions they have paid by asking for a statement of their national insurance account at
	http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/ni/intro/check-record.htm
	by telephone on 0845 302 1479, or by writing to HM Revenue and Customs, National Insurance Contributions and Employer Office, Benton Park View, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE98 1ZZ.
	If contributors still consider their record to be incorrect, they can notify HM Revenue and Customs, who will investigate the matter and give a formal decision which can be appealed.
	Alternatively, claimants who do not contact HM Revenue and Customs but wish to appeal against their state pension award can appeal in the usual way using the form included in leaflet GL24, or in writing.
	Upon identifying that the appeal involves an NI contribution issue, the First-tier Tribunal will refer the matter to the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, my right hon. Friend the Member for Chingford and Woodford Green (Mr Duncan Smith), requiring him to refer the issue to an officer of HM Revenue and Customs for a final decision. Upon receipt of the final decision a decision maker acting on behalf of the Secretary of State will consider whether the benefit decision should be revised as a result.

Remploy

Anne McGuire: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the average redundancy settlement paid to former Remploy workers has been.

Esther McVey: The Department does not hold information about the average redundancy settlement as this is a matter between Remploy and their employees.
	The redundancy terms that were subject to collective consultation between Remploy and employee representatives are those set out in the Remploy Accord. They are more than double the average that would be received under the statutory redundancy scheme.

Remploy

Anne McGuire: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many former Remploy workers who wish to establish a social enterprise have received working capital from his Department as part of the transitional support arrangements.

Esther McVey: In Stage 1, the Government made a package of expert support available, up to the value of £10,000, to assist employee led groups in the development of their bids.
	This fund is not available for the purpose of meeting working capital requirements; it is the responsibility of each bidder to secure appropriate funding to support their proposal.

Remploy

Anne McGuire: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what arrangements have been made for the disposal of any specialised equipment in Remploy factories.

Esther McVey: In Stage 1, Remploy advised that organisations had until the end of August 2012 to register an interest for any assets before they started the process of contacting relevant local organisations and advertising the assets more widely. For Stage 2, the business exit and asset disposal processes will run concurrently.
	The disposal of Remploy sites and any associated assets (including specialised equipment) is a matter for Remploy. Remploy is, as is the Department, under a duty to dispose of assets in a way that ensures best value for money whilst, where possible and practicable, seeking to maximise the employment opportunities for disabled people.
	Full details of how to register an interest have been made available on the Remploy website:
	www.remploy.co.uk

Social Fund

Guto Bebb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the guidance made available by (a) local authorities in England, (b) the Welsh Government and (c) the Scottish Government to Jobcentre Plus decision makers ahead of changes to the social fund in April 2013.

Steve Webb: We are working very closely with English local authorities and the devolved nations of Scotland and Wales to support them in delivering their new schemes, including where they have developed their guidance, so that claimants can get timely access to the remaining support available from the Department and from the new provision in their communities.

Social Fund: Wales

Guto Bebb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what recent discussions he has had with Welsh Ministers on the devolution of the discretionary social fund.

Steve Webb: The discretionary social fund is not being devolved to the Welsh Government. Some discretionary payments are being abolished from April 2013 and funding is being provided for new, better targeted local provision through arrangements made by the Welsh and Scottish Governments and local authorities in England.
	The Department continues to actively engage with the Welsh Government on the issues. Ministers regularly meet Welsh Ministers and discuss their plans and I had an exchange of correspondence with the First Minister of Wales on 22 January 2013. Officials are also having regular meetings with Welsh Government officials.

Social Fund: Wales

Guto Bebb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much funding has been allocated to the Welsh Government to administer the discretionary element of the social fund in each of the next five financial years.

Steve Webb: The Welsh Government will not be administering the discretionary element of the social fund. Some discretionary payments are being abolished from April 2013 and funding is being provided for new, better targeted local provision through arrangements made by the Welsh and Scottish Governments and local authorities in England.
	The administrative funding for Wales for the new provision for 2013-15 is set out in the following table. The allocation of future funding will be assessed and reviewed as part of the next comprehensive spending review settlement.
	
		
			  £ 
			 2013-14 2,156,714 
			 2014-15 1,976,862

Social Fund: Wales

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will take steps to ensure that Jobcentre Plus staff in Wales are aware of the changes to the discretionary social fund to be administered by the Welsh Government in April 2013.

Steve Webb: The Welsh Government will not be administering the discretionary element of the social fund. Some discretionary payments are being abolished from April 2013 and funding is being provided for new, better targeted local provision through arrangements made by the Welsh and Scottish Governments and local authorities in England.
	Jobcentre Plus staff in Wales are aware of the arrangements the Welsh Government are making and are having regular meetings with Welsh Government officials. This is so that claimants can get timely access to the remaining support available from the Department and from the new provision in their communities.

Social Security Benefits

David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer of 27 February 2013, Official Report, column 561W, on Social Security Benefits: Greater London, what the minimum (a) volume and (b) level of diversity is required in a local authority to make it a realistic preparation for the national roll-out of the benefit cap.

Mark Hoban: The volume and diversity of households in the local authority areas selected for phased roll-out are just two of the factors that determined the choice.
	The approach has to be based on the right package so that lessons are learned through a controlled test in a live environment. As such, it also needs to test all three local authority IT systems, be in one regional area, with bespoke account managers within the locations and in our delivery network. That provides us with the right conditions for testing and achieves value for money.

Social Security Benefits

Anne McGuire: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many claimants of (a) carer's allowance, (b) the middle rate of the care component of disability living allowance (DLA) and (c) the higher rate of the care component of DLA; and what his estimate is of the number of claimants there will be in each category following the introduction of personal independence payments.

Esther McVey: Current data on the number of claimants of carer's allowance and of disability living allowance by care award can be found on the Department's website at:
	http://83.244.183.180/100pc/tabtool.html
	Guidance for users is available at:
	http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd1/tabtools/guidance.pdf
	Following the introduction of personal independence payment (PIP), the forecast caseloads for each rate of the daily living component are in the December 2012 Reassessments and Impacts briefing note. This can be found on the Department's website at:
	http://www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/pip-reassessments-and-impacts.pdf
	The estimated impact of PIP on carer's allowance caseloads was published on 8 February 2013 and can be found at:
	http://www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/pip-briefing-carers-allowance.pdf

Social Security Benefits: Greater London

David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer of 28 February 2013, Official Report, column 609W, on social security benefits: Greater London, how many of his Department's staff have been seconded to (a) Bromley, (b) Croydon, (c) Enfield and (d) Haringey to assist the early implementation of the benefit cap.

Mark Hoban: A senior Jobcentre Plus account manager has been appointed in each of the four London boroughs to co-ordinate local engagement and support, supported by an implementation manager working with the four local authorities and DWP benefit cap project team members.
	There are no staff formally seconded to the local authorities but Jobcentre Plus staff have been co-located in local authority premises to assist households likely to be impacted by the cap to ensure they have access to a wide range of support.
	A total of 12 members of staff have been co-located to provide this support. The breakdown by local authority is as follows:
	(a) Bromley: one staff member
	(b) Croydon: two staff members
	(c) Enfield: two staff members
	(d) Haringey: seven staff members.

Universal Credit

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  when the most recent gate review for the universal credit project was; at what stage of the gateway review process it applied; and what that review concluded;
	(2)  whether an integrated assurance and approvals plan has been produced for the universal credit project;
	(3)  when any project assessment reviews for planned assurance of the universal credit project have been conducted to date;
	(4)  when any project assessment reviews have been requested for the universal credit project on a consequential basis.

Mark Hoban: An integrated assurance and approvals plan (IAAP) is in place for universal credit. The IAAP determines the frequency of programme assessment reviews. Assurance reports are not routinely published. The next review point is planned for mid May.

Universal Credit

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what contingency plans his Department has put in place in case of handling errors in universal credit assessments that result in underpayments to vulnerable households.

Mark Hoban: The design of universal credit is intended to reduce errors including under and over payments. Any underpayments will be rectified as soon as possible to ensure claimants receive an amount of universal credit to which they are entitled. In exceptional circumstances, it will be possible to make same day payments using the Faster Payments Service.
	Universal credit will have a process in place to identify claimants who are vulnerable at the start of their universal credit claim. This information will be recorded and where the needs identified are complex an appointment will be made with an adviser.

Universal Credit

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what impact assessments have been completed by his Department on the effects of the non-categorisation of supported lodging schemes as exempt accommodation under universal credit regulations.

Steve Webb: None. The treatment of housing costs in respect of supported accommodation in universal credit is not different from that in housing benefit. The definition of supported exempt accommodation in universal credit remains the same as that in housing benefit.

Vacancies: North Yorkshire

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the most recent job vacancy figures for Thirsk, Malton and Filey are.

Mark Hoban: In the three months to November 2012, the most recent period for which data are currently available, in Thirsk and Malton constituency employers reported over 1,800 new vacancies to Jobcentre Plus (JCP). Not all vacancies in the area would have been recorded on the JCP system, as some will be advertised through other recruitment methods or through word of mouth. In addition, some jobseekers in the constituency will be looking at vacancies outside the immediate area.
	A new service, Universal Jobmatch (UJ), has now replaced the previous system through which employers reported vacancies to Jobcentre Plus. It is still a new system and while some statistics on vacancies available through UJ are published via the Directgov website:
	www.direct.gov.uk
	More detailed breakdowns, including by parliamentary constituency area, are not yet available. The intention is to have a broadly similar set of data available to that under the previous Jobcentre Plus vacancy system and we are working towards this.

Work Capability Assessment

Alison McGovern: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the effect of work capability assessments on the well-being of people who have a lifelong serious medical condition.

Mark Hoban: There is strong evidence that work is good for physical and mental well-being, and that being out of work can contribute to poorer health and other negative outcomes. A claimant for whom a return to work is considered unlikely within two years will be reassessed after two years. This is because, even for claimants who are unlikely to see an improvement in their health and who are unlikely to sufficiently adapt to their condition, it is important that we do not write them off completely.
	We recognise, though, that asking customers to attend an unnecessary examination is in no one's interests. For those whose condition is likely to qualify them for the Support Group, healthcare professionals (HCPs) will, where possible, advise using the available paper-based evidence. Only when there is insufficient evidence to make a recommendation would the HCP call a customer to attend a face-to-face assessment.

Work Programme

David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will review existing Work Programme contracts to provide added incentives to providers who achieve successful job outcomes with clients domiciled in the most deprived areas of the UK.

Mark Hoban: We have no plans to offer extra incentives to providers who achieve job outcomes with clients living in the most deprived areas of the UK.
	The Work programme offers providers significant incentives to support the hardest-to-help into employment, and our payments focus on the individual's disadvantages and barriers to employment. When providers originally bid to deliver the Work programme, they had the opportunity to set the level of job outcome payments below a maximum threshold; this allowed them to take local conditions into account when setting the appropriate level of incentives for contracts.

Work Programme

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when support for participants who complete the full two years of the Work programme without finding a job will be put into place.

Mark Hoban: Last year we ran a small-scale trial to understand how best to support very long-term jobseeker's allowance claimants who may reach the end of the Work programme from 2013.
	An initial evaluation and analysis of off-benefit impact was published on 6 December 2012. This evidence will help inform the Department's decisions on the development of a national programme of support for Work programme leavers from the summer of 2013.

EDUCATION

Chequers

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education pursuant to the answer of 4 February 2013, Official Report, column 57W, on Chequers, whether he was accompanied by his special advisers or other departmental officials on his visit to Chequers.

Elizabeth Truss: holding answer 11 March 2013
	It is long-standing Government practice not to provide further details of such meetings.

Children: Custody

Robert Halfon: To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will bring forward amendments to the Children and Families Bill to provide for a non-resident parent to have more than every other weekend as the standard contact arrangement with their children; and if he will make a statement.

Edward Timpson: The Government recognise that, in most cases, a child benefits from the involvement of both parents. The Children and Families Bill reflects this. However, in making decisions about the care of a child, the welfare of the child concerned must always be the courts' paramount consideration. Any steps to pre-determine a specific level of contact between a child and a parent would undermine this principle. For that reason, the Government do not intend to amend the Bill to provide for this.

Curriculum

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will introduce a quality assurance mark for national curriculum learning resources.

Elizabeth Truss: holding answer 11 March 2013
	There are no plans at present to introduce a quality assurance mark for national curriculum resources. Head teachers are best placed to know how the new national curriculum will be implemented in their schools, and it is for these professionals to identify and access the learning resources that they think will be needed for them and their pupils.
	Throughout the process of the national curriculum review we have been working with a range of stakeholders—including publishers, educational suppliers, teaching schools and subject associations—to ensure that high-quality support is available to schools when the new curriculum is introduced.

Curriculum

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what assessment he has made of the effect of the time taken to publish final programmes of study and full assessment criteria on the timely publication of high-quality learning resources.

Elizabeth Truss: holding answer 11 March 2013
	Throughout the process of the national curriculum review we have maintained close contact with a range of stakeholders—including publishers, educational suppliers, teaching schools and subject associations—to ensure that high-quality support and learning resources are available to schools when the new curriculum is introduced. Therefore, both publishers and suppliers are ready to supply new textbooks and educational resources to schools in time for the introduction of the new curriculum in September 2014. Many of these companies are already talking to schools about their products and how these can be used to support the introduction of the new curriculum.

First Aid: Education

Justin Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what recent assessment Ofsted has made of the prevalence of teaching of life-saving skills in schools; and if he will make a statement.

David Laws: This question is a matter for Ofsted. HM chief inspector, Sir Michael Wilshaw, has written to the hon. Gentleman, and a copy of his response has been placed in the House Libraries.
	Letter from Sir Michael Wilshaw, dated 27 February 2013
	Your recent Parliamentary question has been passed to me, as Her Majesty's Chief Inspector, for response.
	Since 2005, maintained school inspections have been carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005, and more recently the Education Act 2011. The teaching of life-saving skills is not a feature of section 5 inspections, so Ofsted has not conducted an assessment of the prevalence of this in schools. Inspectors do, however, make a separate judgement about the behaviour and safety of pupils in the school as part of each inspection.
	A copy of this reply has been sent to David Laws MP, Minister of State for Schools, and will be placed in the library of both Houses.

Freedom of Information

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education pursuant to the answer of 24 January 2013, Official Report, column 396W, on Freedom of Information Act 2000, whether (a) he and (b) Ministers in his Department have been consulted as a qualified person under the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 on responses to Freedom of Information requests submitted by the hon. Member for West Bromwich East (Mr Watson) made since May 2010.

Elizabeth Truss: holding answer 11 March 2013
	Yes, as is required by the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

GCE A-level

Nadine Dorries: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what recent estimate his Department has made of the proportion of students taking (a) biology, (b) chemistry and (c) physics at A-level.

Elizabeth Truss: The percentage of A-level students who entered biology in 2011/12 was 19.7%. The equivalent figure for chemistry was 15.7% and for physics was 11.0%. These percentages relate to candidates in all schools and FE sector colleges who were entered for A- levels in summer 2012.

GCSE

Nadine Dorries: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what recent estimate his Department has made of the proportion of schools which offer split sciences at GCSE level.

Elizabeth Truss: The Department does not hold information on the subjects offered by schools but does have data on the subjects that pupils were entered for. Data underlying the School Performance Tables show that 85% of mainstream schools had entries in biology, chemistry and physics GCSEs or regulated IGCSEs by pupils at the end of Key Stage 4 in 2011/12. Only mainstream schools (including independent schools) published in the 2012 Secondary School Performance Tables having more than five pupils at the end of Key Stage 4 are included in this answer.

Health Education: Sex

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education 
	(1)  if he will develop sex and relationship education in primary schools to teach that violence towards women is unacceptable including how to manage anger in appropriate ways to combat domestic violence in later life;
	(2)  what assessment he has made of the research from Edinburgh Napier University into attitudes among children regarding violence towards women; and if he will use this research to develop improved sex and relationship education for primary school children to combat violence towards women.

Elizabeth Truss: holding answer 11 March 2013
	Although primary schools are not required to teach sex education, they must have regard to the Secretary of State's Sex and Relationship Education Guidance when doing so. The guidance addresses issues such as those raised by the Edinburgh Napier University research by ensuring that young people develop positive values and a moral framework that will guide their decisions, judgments and behaviour. In addition, pupils should learn how to avoid being exploited and not to exploit others.

Internet

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Education for what reason information regarding Ministers' meetings with external organisations on the data.gov.uk website is not available for the last two quarters of 2012; and when such information will be made available.

Elizabeth Truss: I can confirm that details of the Department's Ministers' meetings with external organisations for the quarter of July-September 2012 are all now signposted, and can be found at
	www.data.gov.uk
	Detail of Ministers' meetings with external organisations for the period of October-December 2012 is now being collated across all Government Departments, and will be published as soon as possible.

Schools: Vending Machines

Diane Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what steps he is taking to limit the number of junk food vending machines in schools.

Elizabeth Truss: I refer the hon. Lady to the reply given on 2 July 2012, Official Report, column 492W. The decision as to whether or not to use vending machines rests with individual schools. Vending machines can be used to sell healthy food, and can be useful to schools during busy lunch periods, and for events which take place after the end of the school day.
	The Secretary of State for Education, my right hon. Friend the Member for Surrey Heath (Michael Gove), announced on 4 July 2012 that he had asked Henry Dimbleby and John Vincent, the co-founders of Leon restaurants, to lead independent work to examine school food across the country. They have since been developing a school food plan looking at good practice across the UK and abroad, drawing heavily on input from sector bodies, existing campaign groups, local authorities, caterers, parents and schools. Mr Dimbleby and Mr Vincent are putting together an action plan which will build on the successes of the past seven years, accelerate the improvements in school food, and define the role schools have to play in shaping eating habits. This is so that all children eating in English schools are offered good food and given an education that cultivates in them an understanding of food and nutrition. The review will report in 2013.

Special Educational Needs

Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for Education 
	(1)  what steps his Department is taking to ensure that children with special educational needs have adequate choice in further education;
	(2)  what steps his Department is taking to ensure choice in post-18 education for students with special educational needs.

Edward Timpson: The Children and Families Bill, published on 4 February, will help improve the range of choice for young people with special educational needs in further education and for their parents.
	The Bill aims to give young people with special educational needs the right to ask to attend a particular further education, sixth form or independent specialist college and for that institution to admit them, unless it is unsuitable for the young person, does not represent good value for money or would impact negatively on the education of others. Our reforms will also ensure that colleges are more closely involved in arranging local provision for young people with special educational needs through the local offer and co-operation duties. The Bill intends to enable personal budgets to be offered to young people who want to take them up, giving young people with an education, health and care plan and their parents much greater choice and control over how their support is delivered.

Special Educational Needs

Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for Education 
	(1)  whether the status of an education, health and care plan will change when a child reaches the age of 16;
	(2)  whether under the provisions of the Children and Families Bill the proposed review of support for young people with special educational needs at risk of becoming NEET will only happen at the point at which they finish compulsory education;
	(3)  whether under the provisions of the Children and Families Bill a young person aged 19 to 25 who is not in education would be able to request an assessment for an education, health and care plan at any point before their 25th birthday.

Edward Timpson: The status of an education, health and care (EHC) plan does not change when a child reaches the age of 16 and will continue to be reviewed as a minimum every 12 months. Local authorities will work with young people to ensure EHC plans anticipate and plan for key transition points so that young people do not reach the end of any phase of their education without being clear where they are going next and what support they will receive.
	Regulations made under the Children and Families Bill will ensure that local authorities maintain an EHC plan of any young person that is not in education, employment or training (NEET) while of compulsory participation age. They will also ensure that local authorities, review the EHC plan of a 19 to 25-year-old at the point they become NEET, and maintain support where re-engaging that young person in education or training is the best possible option for them.
	Any young person without an EHC plan can request an assessment for one at any point before their 25th birthday. Where the young person is aged over 18 the local authority must take their age into account when determining whether an EHC plan is appropriate.

Special Educational Needs

Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how his Department plans to monitor quality assurance for outcomes of vulnerable children as more power is devolved to schools.

Edward Timpson: The accountability system should be challenging, fair and transparent. It should reward schools that set high expectations for the attainment and progress of all their pupils, including those with SEN, provide high-value qualifications, and teach a broad and a balanced curriculum. It should identify clearly schools that under-perform.
	To deliver this we are currently consulting on new arrangements for secondary accountability. The proposals aim to tackle some of the perverse incentives in the current system, which can prompt schools to focus on some pupils to the detriment of others. The consultation also asks for views about the approach for pupils whose attainment might not, as now, be picked up by national assessments and exams. In particular, we shall consider refreshing the p-scales and examine how we can make more use of the progress data that schools themselves collect.
	Proposals for the reform of primary assessment and accountability will also be issued shortly.
	In addition, there is already a considerable focus on the performance of vulnerable pupils with SEN in accountability arrangements, and this will continue. In particular Ofsted's inspection framework has been revised to provide a renewed focus on SEN since September 2012. It ensures that, in evaluating the achievement of pupils in a school, inspectors consider how well disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs have achieved since joining the school. The changes also ensure that inspectors give a similar consideration to those eligible for the pupil premium. Together this means that outcomes for vulnerable children and young people with SEN are central to the inspection process.
	We shall also continue to collect and make available information about performance by specific groups, including those with SEN. Schools themselves have to publish a range of information for parents, including on how they are using the pupil premium, and Ofsted has reported on how this might be improved.

Special Educational Needs

Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for Education 
	(1)  whether under the provisions of the Children and Families Bill a young person aged 16 to 25 with special educational needs on an apprenticeship would be able to request an education, health and care assessment;
	(2)  how he intends that education, health and care plans should operate for young people on apprenticeships.

Edward Timpson: Any young person without an education, health and care (EHC) plan can request an assessment for one at any point before their 25th birthday, including while on an apprenticeship. Where the young person is aged over 18 the local authority must take their age into account when determining whether an EHC plan is appropriate.
	An education, health and care plan for a young person undertaking an apprenticeship will identify the long and short-term outcomes they are seeking and the special educational, health and social care provision required to help them achieve those outcomes. The local authority will work closely with the young person, their learning provider and other interested parties to agree the content of their plan.
	Further guidance about EHC plans will be included in Regulations and the 0-25 Code of Practice.

ENERGY AND CLIMATE CHANGE

Carbon Capture and Storage

Michael Connarty: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what recent progress he has made on the carbon capture and storage pilot projects.

John Hayes: I know the hon. Gentleman has a particular interest in carbon capture and storage, with one of the shortlisted bidders (Captain Clean Energy) located in Grangemouth.
	The Government are absolutely committed to carbon capture and storage. Our £1 billion commercialisation programme aims to support practical experience of commercial scale CCS and drive forward this important industry. The competition is progressing well and we will be making further announcements this spring.

Electricity

Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what steps he plans to take to ensure that energy service companies delivering permanent and verifiable savings of electricity use can participate in capacity mechanisms on a fair and equivalent basis to generation.

Gregory Barker: One option in the “Electricity Demand Reduction” consultation on options to encourage permanent reductions in electricity use was to include electricity demand reduction in the capacity market; the capacity market powers in part 2 of the Energy Bill already allow for this by allowing "reducing demand for electricity" to be treated as a form of capacity. Following the close of the “Electricity Demand Reduction” consultation on 31 January, the responses are being analysed and a decision on the way forward will be taken shortly.

Energy: Prices

Glyn Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what estimate he has made of increases in (a) domestic and (b) business energy bills arising from the use of renewable energy sources for each of the last five years.

John Hayes: The renewables obligation (RO) and small-scale feed-in tariff scheme (FITs) place the obligation of supporting investment in renewable electricity generation on energy suppliers. It is assumed that energy suppliers will pass the cost of these obligations on to their various energy customers (ie households and businesses) through their electricity bills.
	Ofgem publishes annual reports for both the RO and FITs which include actual cost data. The last year for which data are available is 2011-12. The estimated average amount added directly to domestic and non-domestic electricity bills is shown in Table 1.
	Household estimates are based on annual costs of the RO and FITs from annual reports published by Ofgem(1) multiplied by the share of total UK electricity sales accounted for by households(2) divided by the number of UK households(3). The actual cost of the RO and FITs on each household's energy bill in a given year may differ depending on how energy suppliers pass on the costs of the policy to their customers.
	Non-domestic estimates are based on an illustrative energy user with final electricity consumption of 11,000 MWh per year.
	RO banding levels may be reviewed every four years to ensure that support levels are set as cost-effectively as possible and deliver good value for money to consumers. The review for the period 2013-17 concluded last year and new bands will take effect from 1 April subject to state aid approval.
	To help ensure that policies achieve their objectives cost-effectively and affordably the Government introduced a framework to control levy-funded spending by DECC at Budget 2011. This framework, which includes the RO and FITs, forms part of the Government's public spending framework which the Treasury has responsibility for.
	
		
			 Table 1: Estimated annual impact of the renewables obligation and feed-in tariff on domestic and non-domestic electricity bills 
			  2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 
			 Real 2011-12 prices £ % £ % £ % £ % £ % 
			 Households           
			 RO 13 2 15 2 17 3 18 3 19 3 
			 FITs — — — — — — 0.2 <0.5 2 <0.5 
		
	
	
		
			 Medium-sized business user(4)           
			 RO 32,000 4 38,000 4 42,000 4 46,000 5 53,000 5 
			 FITs — — — — — — 500 <0.5 5,000 0.5 
			 (1) Calculated according to the DECC-HMT definition of RO support costs, ie RO support cost for year = obligation level for year (in ROCs) x RO buyout price for year. (2) Energy Trends table 5.5, available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-of-energy-climate-change/series/electricity-statistics (3) CLG projections. (4 )Final electricity consumption of 11,000 MWh. Note: Numbers rounded.

Energy: Prices

Robert Halfon: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what steps he is taking to help families with the cost of living and the price of energy; and if he will make a statement.

Edward Davey: I refer to the answer given to the hon. Member for Esher and Walton (Mr Raab), today.

Energy: Prices

Alun Cairns: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what steps he is taking to reduce consumers' energy bills.

Edward Davey: I refer to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Esher and Walton (Mr Raab), today.

Peat Bogs

Tony Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many wind power installations (a) installed, (b) approved and (c) awaiting planning permission are sited on peatlands.

Gregory Barker: The Department does not hold this information.

Solar Power

Charles Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what information his Department holds on the total (a) number and (b) installed capacity of small solar schemes below the permitted development threshold in the UK.

Gregory Barker: There is no specific threshold for permitted development of solar in the UK. Permitted development is based on criteria, which can be found (for England) at:
	http://www.planningportal.gov.uk/permission/commonprojects/solarpanels/
	(criteria may vary for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland).
	As such, DECC does not hold information on the total number and installed capacity of permitted development solar schemes. However, it does hold information on the overall number and installed capacity of solar schemes, as well as the number and installed capacity of solar schemes that have been through the planning process (permitted developments are not required to go through the planning process).
	As at the end of September 2012, there was 1,582 MW of operational installed capacity of solar schemes in the UK, covering around 361,000 installations(1). Of this, 194 MW of installed capacity, across 143 schemes, had been through the planning process.
	(1) Number of solar photovoltaic installations accredited on the GB Feed in Tariff scheme—which covers the majority of schemes in the UK—as at the end of January 2013.
	Sources:
	1. Total UK solar photovoltaic installed capacity: Energy Trends December 2012, table ET6.1:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-of-energy-climate-change/series/renewables-statistics
	2. Number of solar photovoltaic installations: monthly central Feed-in Tariff statistics:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/monthly-central-feed-in-tariff-register-statistics
	3. Number and installed capacity of non-permitted solar photovoltaic schemes:
	Renewable Energy Planning Database:
	https://restats.decc.gov.uk/app/reporting/decc/monthlyextract

Wind Power

Glyn Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what estimate his Department has made of the amount of time (a) onshore and (b) offshore wind turbines were not operational in each of the last five years.

John Hayes: The Department for Energy and Climate Change does not collect data on the amount of time onshore or offshore wind turbines are operational, but a 2011 report by the Centre for Sustainable Energy found that wind farms generate electricity around 80% to 85% of the time. Wind power is converted to electricity efficiently, with none of the thermal waste inherent in fossil fuel plants(1). Wind power is a source of energy that does not produce carbon dioxide.
	It should also be noted that generators are only paid for the electricity they actually generate.
	(1) ‘Common concerns about windpower’ (2011), Centre for Sustainable Energy:
	http://www.cse.org.uk/downloads/file/common_concerns_ about_wind_power.pdf

Wind Power

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many wind farms have been built (a) onshore and (b) offshore in the last three months for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement.

John Hayes: Based on the Renewable Energy Planning Database (REPD), which tracks renewable developments through the planning system(1), the number of wind farms that have become fully operational over the past three months is:
	(a) Onshore:
	November 2012: seven
	December 2012: one
	January 2013: one.
	(b) Offshore: Nil
	(1 )https://restats.decc.gov.uk/app/reporting/decc/monthlyextract

DEFENCE

Armed Forces

Penny Mordaunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what estimate he has made of the average annual cost, excluding deployment in operations of (a) Reaction Force Brigade and (b) Adaptable Force Brigade.

Andrew Robathan: The future cost of a Reaction Force Brigade and an Adaptable Force Brigade will depend on the size, role and manpower mix of the units within each Brigade. Costs will be made up of a number of different elements including personnel, training, infrastructure, and equipment. Cost assessments will continue to develop as these Brigades are established over the next few years.

Buildings

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what steps he is taking to sell his Department's headquarters in Whitehall and move to cheaper premises in outer London.

Mark Francois: As part of the Ministry of Defence (MOD) rebasing programme, all potential options to make cost savings have been investigated, including looking at the MOD buildings in Whitehall. The MOD intends to vacate the Old War Office during financial year 2014-15 and the Government are currently examining options to re-use the building.

Buildings

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the most recent valuation is of his Department's headquarters in Whitehall.

Mark Francois: The market value of Ministry of Defence (MOD) property is normally only assessed when it comes up for disposal. No such assessment has been made of MOD Main Building as it continues to be a core site.
	As part of the MOD's quinquennial Asset Valuation programme, in November 2008 the net replacement cost of Main Building and the land it stands on was valued at £209.4 million and £63 million respectively. The land value was reassessed in January 2012 at £61.3 million.

Buildings

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the maintenance costs were for his Department's headquarters in Whitehall in (a) 2010-11, (b) 2011-12 and (c) 2012-13.

Mark Francois: Fully serviced office accommodation in Ministry of Defence Main Building and the Old War Office is provided under a 30-year private finance initiative (PFI) contract signed in 2000 by the previous Administration. The contract payments reflect the costs for both sites, a service element and the repayment of the bank debt under the terms of the PFI credit agreements. Given this, the maintenance costs for Main Building cannot be separately identified.
	However, the total cost of the contract for each of the periods requested is shown in the following table.
	
		
			 Financial year £ million 
			 2010-11 81.6 
			 2011-12 82.4 
			 2012-13 85.3

Buildings

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the cost was of heating his Department's headquarters in Whitehall in (a) 2010-11, (b) 2011-12 and (c) 2012-13.

Mark Francois: Ministry of Defence (MOD) Main Building is supplied with high-temperature hot water from the Whitehall District Heating System (WDHS) and is used to provide heating and domestic hot water throughout the building.
	Due to the metering arrangements and nature of the agreement with the WDHS supplier, only the combined cost of heating and domestic hot water can be provided for the periods requested and are shown in the following table:
	
		
			 Financial year £ million 
			 201011 0.99 
			 2011-12 0.73 
			 2012-13 (estimated) 1.3 
		
	
	Under the Government's transparency agenda, the MOD publishes real-time energy data for Main Building at
	http://www.ecodriver.uk.com/MOD/

Buildings

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the cost was of lighting his Department's headquarters in Whitehall in (a) 2010-11, (b) 2011-12 and (c) 2012-13.

Mark Francois: The cost of lighting the Ministry of Defence Main Building cannot be provided as it is not metered separately from other electrical equipment. However, the total cost of electricity in the periods requested is shown in the following table:
	
		
			 Financial year £ million 
			 2010-11 1.51 
			 2011-12 1.74 
			 2012-13 (estimated) 2.25

Cybercrime

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what steps his Department is taking to increase cyber-defence capabilities.

Andrew Robathan: As we set out in the strategic defence and security review, we attach a high priority to the cyber-defence of our systems.
	We are taking steps to ensure our cyber defences can match the developing threat. As part of this we are investing in the Global Operations and Security Centre (GOSCC) at Corsham, which acts as our 24/7 defensive monitoring and management facility for cyber. The House of Commons Defence Committee recently recognised the GOSCC as a centre of excellence for good practice across Government. We are also working with our key industry partners to improve the cyber security of our supply chains.
	Under the Defence Cyber Security Programme we are raising the cyber awareness of Ministry of Defence civilian and armed forces personnel, as well as improving the ways in which we train and manage our key cyber professionals.
	I cannot comment further on the detail of the measures we take to protect our systems since to do so would risk compromising national security.

Future Large Aircraft

Ben Wallace: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether he has varied the original specifications required by his Department for purchase of the A400M aircraft.

Philip Dunne: The original requirement for the A400M aircraft, which was set at the time of the original programme approval in May 2000, has not changed.

Future Large Aircraft

Ben Wallace: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what studies have been conducted by his Department into the need for air-to-air refuelling capability by the A400M aircraft.

Philip Dunne: The Ministry of Defence has recently refreshed its study into Defence's requirements for air-to-air refuelling capability. This concluded that Voyager will meet all requirements; therefore, there is no need for an air-to-air refuelling capability by the A400M Atlas.

Germany

Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what land has been procured for (a) UK military forces and (b) UK civilian components in Germany at a cost to the German Government; and at what cost.

Andrew Robathan: Approximately two-thirds of the estate occupied by the British forces in Germany is owned by the Federal Republic of Germany, and made available to the British forces free of charge under the Supplementary Agreement to the NATO Status of Forces Agreement.
	The Ministry of Defence is not in a position to say how much this has cost the German Government. However, all of this estate will be returned to the German authorities on release by the British forces, and once any outstanding claims have been settled, the German Government will be able to utilise or dispose of this estate as they see fit.

Germany

Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  what determination of damage or loss has been made by (a) UK and (b) German authorities in respect of the condition of property in UK military bases in Germany;
	(2)  what assessment has been made of any hazardous substance contamination of land in Germany by UK forces; and what estimate his Department has made of the cost of remedying any such contaminations;
	(3)  what restorative or balancing measures his Department has undertaken to avoid any environmental burden arising from the presence by UK military bases in Germany.

Andrew Robathan: The requirement for resolution of any environmental issues relating to the estate vacated by the British Forces in Germany (BFG) is detailed in the Supplementary Agreement to the NATO Status of Forces Agreement and the Ministry of Defence is committed to adhering to this in consultation with the German authorities.
	Negotiations are well under way with the German authorities for a final settlement of all financial claims arising from the release of accommodation. Previous settlements were conducted on either an annual or, more latterly, an ad hoc basis and have hitherto always amounted in a net payment to the UK.
	The Defence Infrastructure Organisation, in conjunction with the Regulator and German authorities, conducts regular assessments of hazardous substance contamination on the BFG estate, and carries out such work as is necessary to remediate pollution on a day-to-day basis. Land quality assessments and risk assessments are available and shared with the German authorities when stations are closed.

Germany

Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the oral statement of 5 March 2013, Official Report, columns 845-48, on Army Basing Plan, whether the £1.8 billion announced in the statement is intended to cover payments to German authorities regarding the withdrawal of sending states' forces from Germany, as provided for in the NATO Status of Forces Agreement Supplementary Agreement of 1959.

Andrew Robathan: There is no intention to use any of the £1.8 billion to make any payment to the German authorities.

Information Officers

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many people work in his Department's press office.

Mark Francois: holding answer 12 March 2013
	As at 12 March 2013, the total number of press officer posts in the central Ministry of Defence press office is 23. This total is made up of the Head of News, 18 posts for press officers specialising in every aspect of Defence, a military officer for each of the armed forces and a press officer on deployment to Afghanistan. As the authorised channel of communication with the news media, the press office responds to inquiries from the national media and provides presentational advice to Ministers 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

Patrol Craft

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when he expects to make a decision on whether to build new offshore patrol vessels; and if he will make a statement.

Philip Dunne: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer I gave on 18 September 2012, Official Report, column 617W.

Porton Down: Animal Experiments

Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the answer of the Under-Secretary of State for Defence the hon. Member for Ludlow (Mr Dunne) of 12 February 2013, Official Report, column 634W, on Porton Down: animal experiments, how his Department disposes of the bodies of animals that die in the experiments that take place at the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory Porton Down facility.

Philip Dunne: Deceased animals are sterilised as necessary and incinerated on site in compliance with nationally-recognised requirements under Health and Safety legislation.

Porton Down: Animal Experiments

Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of the Under-Secretary of State for Defence the hon. Member for Ludlow (Mr Dunne) of 12 February 2013, Official Report, column 634W, on Porton Down: animal experiments, if he will provide details of the purposes of the experiments in which the animals were used at the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory Porton Down facility.

Philip Dunne: The animals that are utilised at DSTL Porton Down are involved in individual research studies that form part of the overall Ministry of Defence research programme to provide new and improved medical countermeasures to UK armed forces, to enhance the combat casualty care provision to service personnel and to help save lives.

HEALTH

Alcoholic Drinks: Misuse

Andy Burnham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what interventions on alcohol misuse linked to sexual health risks were piloted by his Department following the public health White Paper, “Healthy Lives, Healthy People”.

Anna Soubry: The Department provided funding for three local areas to pilot three different approaches to interventions on alcohol misuse linked to sexual health risks. We are currently following up the pilots, and, working with Public Health England, we will then consider the findings and next steps.

Antibiotics

Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what steps his Department is taking to reduce the over-prescription of antibiotics;
	(2)  what recent discussions he has had with (a) the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency and (b) other regulatory bodies on promoting the synthesis of new antibiotics;
	(3)  with reference to the Chief Medical Officer's Annual Report, what steps his Department is taking to tackle antimicrobial resistance;
	(4)  when he intends to publish the UK Antimicrobial Resistance Strategy.

Anna Soubry: As set out in the Chief Medical Officer's report, we aim to take a cross-sectoral approach to reduce the development of antibiotic resistance and spread of infection. This will include good practice, prescribing decisions and encourage innovative approaches to new therapies.
	To support the need for new drugs, we are working collaboratively nationally and internationally to stimulate drug development in good time. For example, on an international basis we are exploring how to use the forthcoming World Health Organization Assembly and other routes, such as the G8 to promote international activity to stimulate, the antibiotic pipeline. Nationally, regulatory bodies, such as the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency will be involved in these discussions.
	We aim to publish the antimicrobial resistance plan in early summer.
	A copy of the Chief Medical Officer's report has been placed in the Library and can be accessed at:
	https://www.wp.dh.gov.uk/publications/files/2013/03/CMO-Annual-Report-Volume-2-20111.pdf

Antibiotics

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will take steps to ensure that the Government play a leading role in encouraging pharmaceutical companies to develop new (a) antibiotics and (b) other drugs; and if he will develop a long-term strategy to ensure that research and development of antibiotics is sustained at a level sufficient to predict and respond to the development of antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

Daniel Poulter: The Government are taking a leading role and showing leadership in encouraging the development of new antibiotics and showing leadership through support for the strengthening of international partnerships and coalitions, such as the Innovative Medicines Initiative—a joint undertaking between the European Union and the European pharmaceutical industry. It is clear that progress on new development of antibiotics and other therapies will only happen if underpinned by collaboration at the international level.

Doctors

Andrew Selous: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer to PQ 146775, how many doctors other than those graduating from United Kingdom medical schools were taken on by the NHS in 2012; and how many doctors from abroad were allocated to foundation programmes commencing in August 2012.

Daniel Poulter: An annual census of medical staff is undertaken which shows the current number of doctors employed in the national health service and where they qualified—whether within the United Kingdom/within the remainder of the European economic area (EEA), outside the EEA or in an unknown country of qualification. However, the census does not show when they joined the work force.
	There were 7,089 Foundation Programme places for FP 2012. 222 graduates from non-UK medical schools were allocated a place. Of the 6,867 who graduated from UK medical schools a proportion will be students from overseas but the Department does not hold this figure. All UK medical graduates received a place on a Foundation Programme in 2012.

Donors: Young People

John Woodcock: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to encourage schools and colleges with students over the age of 16 to promote blood, organ and bone marrow donation.

Anna Soubry: NHS Blood and Transplant has developed a free teaching resource pack called ‘Give and Let Live’, available for schools to order. It contains a teachers' booklet which includes case studies and background information about the need for more donors and aims to enable young people to see how they can make a difference to people's lives, by raising awareness about donation and demonstrating the benefits of blood, organ and bone marrow donation. The pack also includes an interactive website that features games, quizzes, fact sheets and short films. The pack is aimed at students of 14 and over but can be adapted specifically for students aged 16 to 18.

General Practitioners

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many GPs per head of population there were in (a) 1983 and (b) the latest date for which information is available.

Daniel Poulter: The number of general practitioners (GPs) per 100,000 population working in the national health service in England in 1983 and 2011 is shown in the following table.
	The information is collected by the Health and Social Care Information Centre.
	
		
			 General practitioners: Headcount per head of population in England: 1983 and 2011 
			 Headcount 
			  1983 2011(2) 
			 General practitioners(1) 23,717 35,415 
			 General practitioners(1) per 100,000 population 50.7 66.7 
			 (1) GP figures in 1983 include all GPs excluding trainees/registrars. 2011 figures include all GPs excluding retainers and registrars. GP registrars were first recorded in 1999 and have been omitted for comparability purposes. Data as at 1 October 1983 and 30 September 2011 (2) Headcount Methodology: The new headcount methodology from 2010 onwards means these data are not fully comparable with previous years, due to improvements that make this a more stringent count of absolute staff numbers. Further information on the headcount methodology is available in the Census publication: https://catalogue.ic.nhs.uk/publications/workforce/numbers/nhs-staf-2001-2011-gene-prac/nhs-staf-2001-2011-gene-prac-work-rep.pdf Data Quality: The Health and Social Care Information Centre seeks to minimise inaccuracies and the effect of missing and invalid data but responsibility for data accuracy lies with the organisations providing the data. Methods are continually being updated to improve data quality where changes impact on figures already published. This is assessed but unless it is significant at national level, figures are not changed. Impact at detailed or local level is footnoted in relevant analyses. Sources: 1. The Health and Social Care Information Centre care General and Personal Medical Services Statistics. 2. Office for National Statistics, Mid-1983 Population Estimates, revised in light of the results of the 2001 Census. 3. Office for National Statistics, 2011 Final Population Estimates (2011 census based).

Genito-urinary Medicine

Andy Burnham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health with reference to the public health White Paper, “Healthy Lives Healthy People”, when he plans to publish the results of an evidence review for sexual health.

Anna Soubry: The Department carried out a review of the evidence for the effectiveness of various sexual health interventions in 2010. We are currently considering how the review could be updated and published to help to support local authorities, clinical commissioning groups and the NHS Commissioning Board fulfil the responsibilities for commissioning sexual health services which they will assume on 1 April 2013.

Health and Social Care Act 2012

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidance he has given to NHS Commissioners on (a) assessing and (b) defining patients interests for the purpose of the Health and Social Care Act 2012.

Anna Soubry: From April 2013, clinical commissioning groups, (CCGs) will assume statutory responsibility for commissioning the majority of health care services. The NHS Act 2006, as amended by the Health and Social Care Act 2012, places strong duties on CCGs to ensure the involvement of public and patients in the commissioning of services. It will be for the NHS Commissioning Board to support CCGs and hold them to account, including, for example, by providing supportive commissioning resources, tools or guidance. The board's website contains specific resources for CCGs on public and patient engagement which are available at:
	www.commissioningboard.nhs.uk/resources/resources-for-ccgs

Health Services: Foreign Nationals

David Blunkett: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to restrict access to routine health care and access to diagnosis from (a) citizens of the EU, (b) legitimate migrants on short-term visas and (c) people from outside the EU who are in the UK on visas permitting a stay of six months or more.

Anna Soubry: It is already the case that overseas visitors to the United Kingdom are not entitled to access free national health service hospital treatment unless an exemption from charge applies under Regulations.
	The Department has concluded a review of charging overseas visitors for NHS care with a view to making the current rules simpler, fairer and easier to implement. An announcement on next steps will be made in due course.
	We will continue to provide immediately necessary treatment, which might include assessments and investigations to make a diagnosis, to chargeable visitors even if payment has not been secured in advance. Charges will be pursued afterwards in such circumstances.

Healthwatch England

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what transitional arrangements are in place between the end of local involvement networks and the establishment of Healthwatch; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  which areas an individual Healthwatch will cover;
	(3)  which body will have responsibility for patient representation in rural areas; and how any such body will be staffed and resourced.

Norman Lamb: Local Healthwatch organisations will be set up in each top-tier local authority area from 1 April to help to ensure patients, service users, their families and carers as well as the wider community have the opportunity to have their say, make their views known about local services and to have their interests represented with commissioners and providers of services. Staffing and resources are matters for local decision.
	No single organisation is responsible for patient representation in rural areas. Rather, a number of organisations have roles and responsibilities to ensure that patients and the public can have a say in how their local services are run; Healthwatch is one of these alongside, for example, local authorities and clinical commissioning groups.
	In terms of transition, we are confident that at least 95% of local authorities will have a local Healthwatch in place on 1 April. In the small number of areas where the Local Government Association has identified concerns, it has been working to provide additional support, helping each of the local authorities to commission services and develop contingency plans to make sure that people who use health and social care services will continue to be represented beyond April.
	During the course of 2012-13 the Department has worked with voluntary sector organisations, local government, local involvement networks (LINks), the Care Quality Commission and Healthwatch England to raise awareness of the importance of capturing the LINks' legacy and making good practice available to local Healthwatch organisations going forward.

Horsemeat

Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will name the Polish meat plant identified by the Food Safety Authority of Ireland as the source of the horsemeat found in UK burgers; and which company owns it.

Anna Soubry: The Food Standards Agency has advised that it is aware of a number of Polish companies being named in the media and of interest to Food Safety Authority of Ireland investigations but it would be inappropriate to comment as there is an ongoing investigation in the United Kingdom as well as other member states.

Hospitals: North West

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many admissions to hospital with an alcohol-related diagnosis via accident and emergency departments there were in (a) Tameside, (b) Stockport and (c) the North West in each of the last three years by trust area.

Anna Soubry: Numbers of alcohol-related admissions via accident and emergency (A&E) departments in Tameside primary care trust (PCT), Stockport PCT and North West PCTs for the years 2009-10 to 2011-12 are shown in the following table:
	
		
			 Alcohol-related A&E admissions by North West PCT 
			  2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 Total 
			 Ashton, Leigh and Wigan PCT 4,607 4,922 4,833 14,362 
			 Blackburn and Darwen PCT 6,267 — — 6,267 
			 Blackburn with Darwen Teaching Care Trust Plus — 6,517 7,192 13,709 
			 Blackpool PCT 3,769 4,380 4,946 13,095 
			 Bolton PCT 3,239 3,422 3,296 9,957 
			 Bury PCT 116 125 132 372 
			 Central and Eastern Cheshire PCT 5,473 5,716 4,877 16,065 
			 Central Lancashire PCT 5,121 5,155 4,635 14,912 
			 Cumbria Teaching PCT 6,438 6,616 6,973 20,027 
			 East Lancashire Teaching PCT 0 — — 0 
			 Knowsley PCT 6,012 5,665 5,953 17,630 
			 Liverpool PCT 12,960 12,783 12,824 38,567 
			 Manchester Mental Health and Social Care Trust 98 131 128 357 
			 Manchester PCT 20,013 22,150 20,727 62,890 
			 Salford PCT 4,639 4,919 5,292 14,849 
			 Sefton PCT 2,417 2,620 2,568 7,606 
			 Stockport PCT 3,798 4,153 3,909 11,859 
		
	
	
		
			 Tameside and Glossop PCT 3,699 3,598 4,155 11,452 
			 Trafford PCT 1,271 1,243 1,253 3,768 
			 Warrington PCT 5,189 5,257 5,362 15,808 
			 Western Cheshire PCT 2,680 2,572 2,626 7,878 
			 Wirral PCT 5,546 5,657 5,577 16,780 
			 North West PCTs Total 103,350 107,603 107,257 318,210 
			 Notes: 1. The number of alcohol-related admissions is based on the methodology developed by the North West Public Health Observatory (NWPHO), which uses 48 indicators for alcohol-related illnesses, determining the proportion of a wide range of diseases and injuries that can be partly attributed to alcohol as well as those that are, by definition, wholly attributable to alcohol. The application of the NWPHO methodology has recently been updated and is now available directly from HES. As such, information about episodes estimated to be alcohol related may be slightly different from previously published data. 2. Alcohol attributable fractions are not applicable to children under 16. Therefore figures for this age group relate only to wholly-attributable admissions, where the attributable fraction is one. 3. These figures are not a count of people and do not represent an actual number of admissions that were attributable to alcohol. Alcohol attributable fractions (AAF) are based on the proportion of a given diagnosis or injury that is estimated to be attributed to alcohol. Some diagnoses or injuries will, by definition, be wholly attributable to alcohol and have an AAF of one, others however will only be partly attributable to alcohol and have an AAF greater than zero but less than one. Diagnoses or injuries that are not attributable at all to alcohol will have an AAF of zero. These figures are derived by summing all AAFs for the relevant admissions and should therefore only be interpreted as an estimate of the number of admissions that can be attributed to alcohol. 4. HES figures are available from 1989-90 onwards. Changes to the figures over time need to be interpreted in the context of improvements in data quality and coverage (particularly in earlier years), improvements in coverage of independent sector activity (particularly from 2006-07), and changes in NHS practice. For example, changes in activity may be due to changes in the provision of care. Source: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), The NHS Information Centre for health and social care.

Infectious Diseases

Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Health with reference to the Chief Medical Officer's Annual Report, what steps his Department is taking to mitigate the threat of infectious diseases.

Anna Soubry: The establishment of Public Health England will be a key development in our plan to mitigate the threat of infectious disease. Public Health England will deliver specialist public health services to national and local government, the national health service and the public, working in partnership, to protect the public and minimise the health impacts from infectious diseases.
	Comprehensive national immunisation programmes are in place to tackle vaccine-preventable infectious diseases, which are kept under review by the independent expert Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation.
	Equally importantly, work is under way on a cross-Government basis to mitigate the threat of antimicrobial resistance. This will include good practice, prescribing decisions and encourage innovative approaches to new therapies.

Musculoskeletal Disorders

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to tackle disability due to musculoskeletal conditions.

Norman Lamb: The mandate sets out the Government's ambitions for the health service for the next two years. It includes an objective for the NHS Commissioning Board (NHS CB) to make measurable progress towards making the national health service among the best in Europe at supporting people with ongoing health problems to live healthily and independently, with much better control over the care they receive. It is for the board to decide how they will carry this out; the Government will hold them to account, and the board will in turn hold clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) to account, for the outcomes they achieve.
	CCGs will therefore have the primary responsibility for determining what steps are needed to minimise the disability resulting from musculoskeletal conditions. Early diagnosis will play a crucial part especially for inflammatory conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis and ankylosing spondylitis. To support local commissioners, the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) has published clinical guidelines and other guidance on a number of musculoskeletal conditions, and NICE Quality Standards for osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis and other conditions are in preparation. In addition the NHS CB have recently announced the appointment of a national clinical director for musculoskeletal conditions who will consider what other steps could be taken at national level to support high quality local commissioning.

NHS

Charlotte Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which (a) Government Ministers, (b) NHS staff, (c) civil servants and (d) others were part of the NHS Next Stages Review team.

Anna Soubry: The national health service next stage review was commissioned by the right hon. Member for Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath (Mr Brown), the then Prime Minister, and reported in 2008. The report was based on the contributions of a wide variety of organisations and individuals, primarily under the auspices of the strategic health authorities, who themselves published their own strategic vision documents, upon which the final report drew considerably. The national review team was led by Professor the Lord Darzi of Denham, the then Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State in the Department, with contributions from many other Ministers. The purpose of the review had been to seek contributions from people and organisations with direct, local experience of the NHS. The review was therefore a year-long process that involved thousands of clinicians, NHS staff, patients, stakeholders and members of the public. The review was widely acknowledged at the time (for example, in the introduction to the report) as having been a joint enterprise across the Department, the NHS and other interested groups (such as the medical Royal colleges) as well as representatives of patient groups.
	Many of the senior civil servants in the Department, and those in leadership roles in strategic health authorities, primary care trusts and NHS provider organisations during the period of the review would have been involved, to varying degrees. It is not possible therefore to provide a definitive list of participants.
	Papers relating the review are available on the national archives website at:
	http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/+/www.dh.gov.uk/en/healthcare/highqualitycareforall/index.htm

NHS: Redundancy

Andy Burnham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many NHS staff have been made redundant and subsequently re-employed by NHS organisations on a (a) permanent basis and (b) fixed-term contract basis since May 2010.

Daniel Poulter: The number of NHS staff made redundant in the NHS since 1 May 2010 and subsequently re-employed by NHS organisations on a (a) permanent basis is estimated to be 1,300 and (b) fixed-term contract basis is estimated to be 900.
	These estimates are based on staff recorded on the Electronic Staff Record (ESR) Data Warehouse as having a reason for leaving as either voluntary or compulsory redundancy between 1 May 2010 and 30 September 2012, and who have a subsequent record on the ESR Data Warehouse up to 30 November 2012.
	In April 2010 there were 42,515 full-time equivalent (FTE) managers. Between April 2010 and November 2012 this figure has reduced by 6,905 to 35,610 FTE.
	The ESR Data Warehouse is a monthly snapshot of the live ESR system. This is the HR and payroll system that covers all NHS employees other than those working in General Practice, Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and Chesterfield Royal Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, and some NHS staff who have transferred to local authorities and social enterprises.

NHS: Telephone Services

Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent assessment he has made of the success of the introduction of the Harmoni NHS 111 telephone service; and if he will make a statement.

Anna Soubry: No assessment has been made of the performance of the NHS 111 service.
	NHS 111 is locally commissioned and Harmoni is one of a number of providers delivering the service, which will be available to the whole of England by June 2013.

Older People

Jonathan Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 4 March 2013, Official Report, column 887W, on older people, whether he has assessed the size of the market for equity release products that could be used to help people fund the costs of their social care; and if he will make a statement.

Norman Lamb: The Department has not quantified the potential size of the market for equity release products that could be used to help people fund the costs of their care. However, we are currently working with the financial services industry, local authorities and the care sector on implementation of the Dilnot Commission proposals including the role for financial services. We will consult on this issue in the summer.

Public Health England

Andrew Griffiths: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many staff previously employed by the National Treatment Agency now work for Public Health England.

Anna Soubry: The National Treatment Agency for Substance Misuse estimates there will be 171 members of staff who will transfer to Public Health England on 1 April 2013 in line with the Cabinet Office Statement of Practice on Staff Transfers in the Public Sector 2000.

Respiratory System: Diseases

Bob Blackman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much was invested in each of the last three years by (a) his Department, (b) the Medical Research Council and (c) the National Institute for Health Research on research into (i) lung cancer, (ii) adult asthma, (iii) pneumonia, (iv) chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, (v) idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, (vi) mesothelioma and (vii) childhood wheezing and childhood respiratory infection.

Daniel Poulter: Expenditure by the Department's National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) through research programmes, research centres and units, and research training awards on research on these specific topics is shown in the following table.
	
		
			 £ million 
			  2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 
			 Lung cancer 0.1 0.5 1.3 
			 Adult asthma 1.3 1.4 1.3 
			 Pneumonia 0.2 0.2 0.2 
			 Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease 1.1 1.3 2.7 
			 Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis 0.2 0.1 0.1 
			 Mesothelioma 0.0 0.0 0.0 
			 Childhood wheezing and childhood respiratory infection 0.7 1.0 1.7 
		
	
	Total spend by the NIHR on research on these topics is higher than the figures shown because expenditure by the NIHR Clinical Research Network (CRN) on these topics cannot be disaggregated from total CRN expenditure.
	In addition, the Department's Policy Research Programme funded research relating to asthma through an award to the Social Medicine and Health Services Research Unit at Imperial College London that ended in 2011. The total value of the unit award was £2.9 million.
	The Medical Research Council (MRC) is funded by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills. Figures for MRC expenditure on these specific topics are not available.